Gold for Candy Luck Z in the CSI3* Grand Prix of Neumünster

On US soil, there was the stunning victory of Mimi Gochman and her Iron Maiden at the Longines World Cup in Ocala, but there was another blue and yellow Grand Prix victory on European soil last weekend as well. At the VR Classics three-star competition in Neumünster, Germany, it was Dutch rider Willem Greve and his mare Candy Luck Z who came out on top and convincingly took the Grand Prix victory.

Three days of international show jumping concluded on Sunday afternoon in Neumünster with the CSI3* Großer Preis der Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, a 1.55m class run over two rounds. A total of forty names filled the starting list, with the top ten from the first round qualifying for a second and especially decisive round. In it, victory was reserved for Willem Greve and the 11-year-old mare Candy Luck Z, a daughter of Comme Il Faut and Canturo bred by Dirk Geerinckx. Greve and Candy Luck Z, who were already among the favourites beforehand, rushed to the finish line in 34.07 seconds in the decisive round and so, after the Grand Prix in Oliva, they wrote another CSI3* Grand Prix on their record of achievements!

Willem Greve: "I thought we would start in reverse order from the first round, so I was very relaxed and walked around calmly. Suddenly I realised I was the third rider to start - so I had to rush a bit. But I rode my round as planned, and luckily that was enough."

Besides Candy Luck Z's victory, however, we also saw a second Z horse on the podium in this CSI3* Grand Prix. Indeed, bronze was reserved for Colombian rider Marco Antonio Peixoto Ferreira Filho and the 14-year-old chestnut gelding Everest v't Hof V Eversem Z, a son of our stallion Epleaser van 't Heike Z and Concreto from the breeding farm of Ronny Maes. Ferreira Filho and Everest v't Hof V Eversem Z, who were already good for ^10th place in the 1.55m class on Saturday, also held it clear again in the second round, but needed 36.84 seconds to reach the finishing line in that decisive round.

In that 1.55m main class on Saturday, German rider Maurice Tebbel jumped to a top 5 ranking with the 10-year-old gelding Crazy EP, a son of Cornet Obolensky and Diamant de Semilly born to breeders Tim Van Tricht and Jill Goossens as Crazy For You De Tiji Z. A clear jump-off in 38.06 seconds earned them a nice ^5th place in the rankings.

Finally, Belgian rider Mike van Olst also managed to ensure success with his 11-year-old mare Comme Elle Faut ODTH Z (Comme Il Faut x Canabis Z - breeder: NV ODTH). During the 1.50m speed class on Friday, they kept all the bars in the reels, with ^4th place as the final result.za