Ping Pong of the Lentamel shines in the LGCT Super Grand Prix

After Riyadh last year, the O2 Arena in Prague was once again the setting last weekend for the famous Prague Playoffs, the grand season finale of the Longines Global Champions Tour. The best riders and horses of the past season appeared in the Czech capital at the start of this prestigious competition, providing four days of top-class sport at the very highest level!

The absolute showpiece of the weekend was the LGCT Super Grand Prix on Saturday evening, in which fifteen Grand Prix winners from last season re-entered the ring and competed against each other in two rounds for an immense prize pool of as much as 1.25 million euros. One of them was German rider Gerrit Nieberg and the 10-year-old bay gelding Ping Pong van de Lentamel (Emerald van 't Rutershof x Toulon), who was sold in 2018 during one of our Zangersheide auctions. Nieberg and Ping Pong van de Lentamel, winners of the LGCT Grand Prix at Riesenbeck International in July, remained clear in the first round of this Grand Prix but did see a fault roll out of the scoops in the second and decisive round. In doing so, they crossed the finish line in 63.01 seconds, ultimately stranding them just off the podium in ^4th place.

In addition to the LGCT Super Grand Prix on Saturday evening, Prague last weekend was of course also looking forward to the denouement of the Global Champions League, in which the various teams competed against each other, with the final on Sunday evening competing for no less than 6.5 million euros in prize money. Several Zangersheide horses also made their appearance in the ring and one of them was the 10-year-old mare Casual DV Z, a daughter of Cornet Obolensky and Cicero Z van Paemel, who was born and raised at the home of the Devos family. Together with her Belgian rider Pieter Devos, Casual DV Z was part of the Prague Lions team, where they produced some particularly strong performances. During both the quarter-finals on Thursday and the semi-finals on Friday, Devos and Casual DV Z produced a flawless round and thus had an important share in the Czech team's final place.

Besides Pieter Devos and Casual DV Z, his compatriot Thibeau Spits and the 10-year-old black stallion Impress-K van 't Kattenheye Z (Indoktro-K van 't Kattenheye x Vagabond de la Pomme) were also part of the Prague Lions' team. Spits and Impress stayed clear during the quarter-finals on Thursday, once again showing their class at this very highest level.

The LGCT Super Grand Prix and the final of the Global Champions League undoubtedly received most of the attention in Prague last weekend, but in addition to that, there were many other international classes on the programme in the Czech capital. On Saturday, for example, the riders and amazons of the five-star competition were in action in a 1.50m class with jump-off, and in it there was a podium place for Belgian rider Abdel Saïd and the 10-year-old gelding Quaker Brimbelles Z, a son of Quicksilver St Simeon and Hickstead bred in France by Haras des Brimbelles. In a jump-off for which ten of the thirty-four combinations managed to qualify, Said and Quaker Brimbelles Z again provided a flawless round and with a finishing time of 33.79 secured^2nd place.

During the opening day on Thursday, the five-star competition in Prague started with a 1.45m high speed class and in it, too, a Z-horse managed to jump to a place at the top of the leaderboard. Indeed, ^4th place went to Israeli rider Yali Kass with the 13-year-old chestnut mare Luna van 't Ruitershof Z, a daughter of Levisto Z and For Pleasure bred by Bert van den Branden of Stal 't Ruytershof. Kass and Luna van 't Ruytershof Z, who became Belgian Senior Champion in Lanaken in 2022 under the saddle of Nicola Philippaerts, kept all the bars neatly in the scoops and this performance earned them ^4th place in the rankings.

Finally, Swedish rider Angelica Augustsson Zanottelli also managed to jump into the prizes with the 11-year-old stallion Iron Dames Calvino II de Nyze Z, a son of Calvaro F.C. and Heartbreaker from the stud farm of Danny and Jens Nijs. In the 1.50m class on Saturday, Augustsson Zanottelli and Iron Dames Calvino II de Nyze Z provided a whirlwind round, finishing in ^6th place.