17 March '26
Impressive Grand Prix victory for Kayenne Z in Thermal
© High Desert Sport Photo
Over a month after their brilliant victory in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, US rider Kyle King and his top mare Kayenne Z produced another cracking performance in Thermal last weekend! The successful duo competed again at the Desert International Horse Park, where they impressively added the CSI4* Grand Prix to their record on Saturday evening.
The tenth and final week of the Desert Circuit 2026 in Thermal has turned into a dream weekend for Kyle King and his 11-year-old mare Kayenne Z, the daughter of Kannan and Canezaro from the breeding farm of Kristof Engelen. During both the 1.50m class on Thursday and the 1.45m class on Friday, King already piloted the current number 2 in our Z-ranking to a brilliant2nd place, but the absolute highlight of the weekend came on Saturday evening during a particularly exciting CSI4* Grand Prix. Indeed, of the twenty-nine combinations that appeared at the start, King and Kayenne Z were the only ones who managed to clear the 1.55m high basic course designed by course designer Peter Grant and his team, crowning them the overall winners with a lot of flair.
Kyle King: "I've been doing this for a long time and I've had a lot of Grand Prix wins as well. But I've never been the only one to ride clear (laughs). I've seen it happen a million times. It never happens to me... If you keep this up long enough, it happens by itself. I am extremely proud of Kayenne. She really played with the course tonight. It was nice that I could only ride second-to-last, so I could see exactly how I wanted to go about it. She just galloped around like it was an equitation course. She's a great, special mare."
"She won the World Cup qualifier here a few weeks ago and then I spared her until I jumped her one round last week. In between she has been in the pasture completely for a fortnight and taken it easy for a fortnight. I then jumped her one round on Sunday and I tried to peak her for this competition. Now she gets another long rest. I have big plans for this summer, so I feel like she is in really good shape. Our relationship is getting better and better. I have been doing this for a long time. I've had a lot of really good horses, but this mare knows when it counts. She's just special... I've never had a horse like this in all my career."
For breeder Kristof Engelen, the weekend in Thermal also became even more special, because in addition to Kayenne Z's fantastic performance, her eldest son Boeff van de Molen Z (Bamako de Muze x Kannan) also managed to win a class at the Desert International Horse Park. He appeared at the start with American rider Tali Dejong and together they jumped to victory in the 1.40m opening class on Wednesday. In both the1st and2nd stages, Dejong and the 8-year-old Boeff van de Molen Z neatly kept all the bars in the scoops and with a convincing finishing time of 35.87 seconds, they were just under a second and a half ahead of their closest pursuer.
Finally, Canadian rider Vanessa Mannix also had a strong competition with the 15-year-old mare Carmela Z, a daughter of Candillo Z and Caretano Z bred in the Netherlands by F. Verhagen. Mannix and Carmela Z started their competition on Wednesday with a 9th place in the 1.40m opening class, and the following days saw a creditable 5th place in both the 1.50m class on Thursday and the 1.45m class on Friday.