23 February '26
Jean-Christophe de Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z experience dream weekend in Ghent
© Zahra De Meyer Photography
The two-star competition at Flanders Horse Expo in Ghent last weekend turned out to be another success story for our blue and yellow colours of Studbook Zangersheide! After the Grand Prix victories of Thibeau Spits with his Impress-K van 't Kattenheye Z in 2024 and Wilm Vermeir with Belle Amie vd Dassenheide Z last year, this year's CSI2* Grand Prix now also got a Z-horse at the top of the leaderboard.
For four days, the halls of Flanders Expo in Ghent once again formed the backdrop Flanders Horse Expo, a unique event with, on the one hand, a fair for riders, drivers and breeders, but above all a lot of national and international show jumping. With two resounding victories and on top of that a2nd place, Ghent turned out to be a dream weekend for Belgian rider Jean-Christophe De Grande and the 11-year-old stallion Anubis van de Vossestaart Z, a son of Aimar van het Polderhof and Toulon who was born at breeder Alex Cnockaert. De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z took an immediate blitz start during the opening day on Thursday, becoming the winners of the 1.40m main class. In both the1st and2nd phases they did not make a mistake and with a finishing time of 32.07 seconds they had a small lead of twelve hundredths of a second over the competition.
On Friday evening in Ghent, all eyes were on the 1.45m Longines Ranking Test and in it, too, De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z showed their class. They stayed clear in the first round and were among the twelve combinations that qualified for the decisive jump-off. In it, they managed to repeat their flawless performance from the basic round once again and with a finishing time of 33.97 seconds, this time they secured2nd place in the rankings.
However, the absolute highlight of the weekend for the successful duo came on Saturday evening, where they crowned their fantastic weekend with a win in the CSI2* Grand Prix. In a jump-off for which seven out of forty-seven combinations qualified, they sped to the finish in 35.56 seconds, ensuring a blue/yellow Grand Prix victory for the third year in a row.
In the 1.45m Longines Ranking class on Friday, the silver was for De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z, but the other podium places in this main class were also coloured blue and yellow. The win there went to Dutch rider Pieter Jan de Visser and the also 11-year-old mare For2Day Z, a daughter of For Pleasure and Diamant de Semilly from Jan de Visser's breeding farm. They crossed the finish line in 32.73 seconds in the 12-strong jump-off, more than a full second ahead of De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z.
In turn, the bronze in this Longines Ranking Test went to Frenchman Alexis Borrin and the 9-year-old gelding Calisco du Bodery Z, a son of Cornet Obolensky and Kannan bred in France by Raphael Le Doré. They too provided a clear jump-off, but needed 34.44 seconds to complete their round.
Besides Jean-Christophe De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z's victory, however, there was a second Zangersheide victory to note on Saturday. In the 1.40m class earlier in the day, it was his compatriot Anthony Wellens who claimed the top prize with the 9-year-old gelding Gino du Domaine Z, a breeding product of Luc De Brauwer who combined the blood of George Z with that of Quidam de Rêvel. Wellens and Gino du Domaine Z, already good for 9th place in the 1.40m class on Thursday, finished in 30.08 seconds in the2nd phase, five hundredths of a second ahead of their closest pursuer.
Finally, we also saw two other Z-horses achieve top-five finishes at the CSI2* Grand Prix on Saturday evening. Thus, 4th place was for Dutch rider Jan Conijn with the 9-year-old stallion Daktari Z (Dallas VDL x Namelus R - breeder: Jan Gerrits), while his compatriot Wesley Mulder claimed 5th place with the also 9-year-old mare C-Livia RV Z (Cohinoor VDL x Cassini I - breeder: Harold Renken).