18 July '26
Diavolina vd Vrombautshoeve Z and Ashton Kutcher Z are the first winners of the 2026 Z Festival
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Studbook/
Zangersheide Foal Championship / Z-Festival/
Zangersheide Foal Championship / STX Cyclus / STX Gouden Laars / Bixie Jumping
© Paardenfotograaf
This morning, the Z-Festival 2026 kicked off at our beautiful estate in Lanaken. For three days, sport and breeding will once again go hand in hand, with, on the one hand, a round of the STX Cycle for young horses and a stage of the STX & Parlanti Golden Boot, and, on the other, our Belgian Zangersheide Foal Championship. On this first day of the festival, the youngest foals – born between 17 May and 17 June 2026 – were the first to take centre stage. Their performances were judged by an international jury comprising Eric Levallois from France, Heinz Meyer from Germany and our compatriot Tom Lemmens. They assessed each foal on five fixed criteria: conformation, correctness, movement, overall impression and dam line, with a maximum of ten points available for each criterion.
Mare foals
From 09.00, it was the filly foals who, as is traditional, kicked off the day’s proceedings. Victory in this first round went to Diavolina vd Vrombautshoeve Z, a daughter of Darry Lou Z and Baltic VDL, bred by Stal Boelens. Her dam, Hinessa A, competed at 1.40m level under the saddle of Peter Boelens. Claire Z (Clearway), the former Grand Prix horse of Belgian rider Pieter Devos, also comes from the same dam line.
Second place went to Coco-Bella RC Z, bred by Chantal Rosenbaum. This daughter of Champion 2000 Z out of an Air Jordan Z mare comes from a strong sporting family. Her granddam, Dein-Liebling-Str (Van Gogh), is a half-sister to Walzerbraut (Lupicor), C. Zamino Z (Chellano Z) and Kingsize STR (Numero Uno), all of whom have competed or are currently competing at 1.45m level.
The bronze went to Amaryli SVH Kraeyenboschhof Z, who was bred by Roeland Simons. This daughter of Aganix du Seigneur Z and Chacfly PS comes from an exceptionally strong dam line. Her granddam, Littlethina van ’t Ruytershof (Norton d’Eole), is a half-sister to the 1.60m horses H&M Luna van ’t Ruytershof Z (Levisto Z), Messi van ’t Ruytershof (Plot Blue) and Missouri van ’t Ruytershof (Bamako de Muze).
Colt foals
After the filly foals had made their appearance in the morning, it was the turn of the first group of colt foals from 1.00 pm. The foal that made the biggest impression was Ashton Kutcher Z, bred by Hof Brüning in Germany. Ashton Kutcher Z is a son of Ansingh de Lis Z out of the Taloubet Z mare Taylor Swift Z. She, in turn, is by the mare Cameron Diaz (Cornet Obolensky) and is therefore a half-sister to the mare Colliers Carlotta (Codex One Z), who jumps up to 1.55m level with the German rider Angelique Böckmann.
Second place went to Harry Potter AEG Z, a son of Heartbreaker and Cambio, bred by Stal Aegten. His dam, Nooma, is also the dam of Rendez-Vous AEG (Comme Il Faut) and Silinde AEG (Cornet Obolensky), who are currently competing at 1.45m level with Kevin Thornton and Jenny Heinekamp respectively.
Finally, the bronze went to Solid Vd Zwartbleshoeve Z, bred by Wim Bode and Inge Schepers of WB Equinepodiatry. This son of Stakkato Gold out of the mare Pomponette Vd Zwartbleshoeve Z (Diamant de Semilly) can also draw on a strong dam line. Pomponette Vd Zwartbleshoeve Z is, in fact, a half-sister to the stallion Nighthawk (Stakkato Gold), one of the Grand Prix horses ridden by the British top rider Ben Maher.