Grand Prix victory for Pivoine de la Pomme Z

A lot of action last weekend outside our borders, but also at home the past few days saw renewed competition on the international stage. The Hazebroek family at the Azelhof in Lier was ready for the third and final week of the spring tour 2026, during which several Z-horses clearly made their mark.

Just like the two weeks before, this time too there was jumping at two-star level, with the CSI2* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon as the weekend's eye-catcher. As many as eighty-four combinations made their appearance in the ring and of these, fifteen were successful in the 1.45m basic round run by course designer Eddy Geysemans and his team. The star performer was young Belgian rider Evelyne Putters and the 10-year-old mare Pivoine de la Pomme Z, a daughter of Montebello la Silla and Vagabond de la Pomme born in France to breeder Geert Baertsoen of Haras de la Pomme. Putters and Pivoine de la Pomme Z also managed a flawless performance in the jump-off and with a finishing time of 39.12 seconds, they outclassed the competition by three hundredths of a second.

On Friday afternoon in Lier, everything revolved around the 1.45m Longines Ranking Test, and in this too it was a Z-horse that took the top prize. It was Putters' compatriot Dirk Demeersman who claimed victory with his 10-year-old breeding product Cote d'Or Z, a son of Carambole out of his former Grand Prix mare Daimonds Billy (Diamant de Semilly). In a jump-off for which 15 combinations also managed to qualify, they rushed to the finish in 39.39 seconds, giving them a close second ahead of the rest of the pack.

On Saturday, a 1.45m Longines Ranking class also took place in Lier, in which we also saw a Z-horse shine with a spot on the podium. That honour fell to Brazilian rider Thiago Ribas Da Costa and the 13-year-old chestnut mare Catharina W&W Z, a daughter of Centurio 22 and Griseldi from the breeding farm of Wilfried Rutten. Ribas Da Costa and Catharina W&W Z, who had already started their competition on Thursday with a ^10th place in the 1.40m class, rushed to the finish in 62.91 seconds in this class against the clock, securing ^2nd place.

Finally, there were also some other combinations who achieved a nice ^2nd place throughout the weekend. For French rider Dylan Ringot with the 11-year-old gelding Calletto Z (Calais Z x Codex - breeder: Yusuf Aktepe) during the 1.40m class, for German rider Cedric Wolf with the 15-year-old gelding Capitano Z (Cornado NRW x Lordanos - breeder: Charlotte Peeters) during the 1.40m class on Sunday and for Bulgarian Ivana Angelova with the 10-year-old stallion Intro-K van 't Kattenheye Z (Indoktro K van 't Kattenheye x Vagabond de la Pomme - breeder: Tony Raman & Mieke Strobbe) during the 1.35m class on Thursday.