Quaker Brimbelles Z jumps to bronze in the CSI2* Grand Prix of Opglabbeek

Over the past few days, international show jumping has again been in full swing with numerous competitions outside our borders, but there was also international action on Belgian soil. The second week of the Easter Tour was on the programme at Opglabbeek's Sentower Park, where there was once again competition at two-star level. For the second week in a row, the CSI2* Grand Prix proved a success for our blue/yellow colours, as once again a Z-horse coloured the Grand Prix podium with them.

There were sixty-six of them who took their chances at the CSI2* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon at the Oakland Outdoor Arena, and of those, nineteen managed to complete the 1.45m high basic course of arena builder Bart Hendrix and his team. One of those 19 barragists was Belgian rider Abdel Saïd and the 10-year-old gelding Quaker Brimbelles Z, a son of Quicksilver St Simeon and Hickstead who, as his already suspected, was bred by Haras des Brimbelles. Saïd and Quaker Brimbelles Z, who have only been a combination since the end of last year, also managed to run flawlessly in the jump-off and with a finishing time of 38.46 seconds they secured ^3rd place in the standings.

Also in the jump-off of this CSI2* Grand Prix we saw Italian rider Lorenzo de Luca with the 12-year-old black mare Noblesse Vd Mespel Z, a breeding product of Bart Veldenman who combined the blood of Nabab de Rêve with that of Escudo I. De Luca and Noblesse Vd Mespel Z managed to go even faster than Saïd and Quaker Brimbelles Z in 38.05 seconds, but a mistake on the way unfortunately kept them off the podium and made them settle for ^eighth place.

There were also some blue/yellow victories in Opglabbeek and one of them was taken care of by Brazilian rider Bernardo Alves and the 13-year-old chestnut mare Vigo's Flip de Muze Z, a daughter of Vigo d'Arsouilles out of the legendary Grand Prix mare H&M Butterfly Flip (Robin I Z). Alves and Joris De Brabander's breeding product started their competition excellently on Thursday with a^2nd place in the 1.35m opening class, but experienced their highlight of the weekend on Sunday morning. Then they became the winners of the 1.40m high morning class by almost a full second.

In that 1.35m high opening class on Thursday, Alves finished^2nd with Vigo's Flip de Muze Z, but he also got to take the top prize in this class. Together with the 8-year-old mare Be Cute de Muze Z (Bamako de Muze x Clarissimo Z), also a breeding product of Joris De Brabander, he galloped in the^2nd phase to the finishing line in 25.88 seconds, beating everyone and everything.

^Third place in this 1.35m class was for Belgian rider Michaël Vreys and the 10-year-old mare Estrella Van Plockroy Z, a daughter of Excellent Vd Zuuthoeve and Darco bred by the Vreys family. They managed to put a time of 28.89 seconds on the scoreboard in the^2nd phase. A day later, Vreys and Estrella Van Plockroy Z also achieved another ^3rd place in a 1.35m class, while on Saturday they closed their competition with a ^6th place in the 1.45m main class.

In that 1.45m main class on Saturday, Vreys and Estrella Van Plockroy Z followed directly behind Brazilian rider Eduardo Pereira De Menezes and the 9-year-old stallion H5 Agando Butterfly Z, a son of our chestnut stallion Aganix du Seigneur Z and Spartacus TN bred in the Netherlands by Bergmans Stables. Pereira De Menezes and H5 Agando Butterfly Z managed to take ^5th place in this class.

Furthermore, Eduardo Pereira de Menezes also managed to jump into the prizes with the 9-year-old Kassander van 't Roosakker Z offspring H5 Kadco Hero Z (Kassander van 't Roosakker Z x Aganix du Seigneur Z) and H5 Kay's Pleasure Hero Z (Kassander van 't Roosakker Z x For Pleasure), both horses from the breeding farm of Luc Henry. With H5 Kadco Hero Z, Pereira de Menezes finished ^9th in both the 1.35m class on Friday and Saturday, while with H5 Kay's Pleasure Hero Z he managed to secure ^7th place in the 1.40m class on Saturday.

Another notable combination in Opglabbeek was Swiss rider Jason Smith and the 8-year-old chestnut gelding One And Only Eda Z, a son of Ogano Sitte and Cherubin van de Helle bred in France by Pascal Rigaud. Smith and One And Only Eda Z started their competition on Thursday with a ^7th place in the 1.35m opening class and the following days also saw a ^3rd place in the 1.40m class on Friday and a ^9th place in Sunday's class.

Finally, British rider Jodie Burchmore Eames also managed to jump into the prizes twice with the 9-year-old mare Contessa Z, a descendant of Carrera VDL and Toulon from Alex Vasiljevs' breeding farm. They secured ^5th place during the 1.35m class on Friday and on Sunday they closed with ^8th place during the 1.40m morning class.