Silver weekend for Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z at Oliva

While the indoor season is still in full swing in most places in Europe, the starting shot for the new outdoor season was fired on Spanish soil last weekend. The first part of the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour 2026 was held on the coast of Oliva, where many Z-horses made their mark with one or more top placings.

The most striking name in the list was that of the now 17-year-old gelding Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z, a son of Berlin and Darco from the stud farm of Danny De Cuyper. Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z has been one of Spanish rider Mariano Martinez Bastida's top horses for several years now, and their already richly filled palmares were expanded a little over the past few days. On Friday, Martinez Bastida and Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z competed for the first time in the 1.45m Longines Ranking class and immediately achieved a brilliant^2nd place in the ranking. But also during the CSI2* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, the successful duo was once again on the rendezvous. They stayed clear in the 1.45m basic round and were among the 11 combinations that qualified for the jump-off. In it, they once again managed to keep zero points on the scoreboard and, with a finishing time of 39.51 seconds, secured the first place of honour this time too.

However, the silver of Mariano Martinez Bastida and Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z was not the only blue/yellow success at this CSI2* Grand Prix. So in ^4th place we saw French rider Olivier Perreau and the 9-year-old stallion Leopard des Joanins Z, a son of l'Arc de Triomphe Bois Margot and Quick Star bred in Switzerland by Stephane Monier. Perreau and Leopard des Joanins Z, who were also good for ^5th place in the Grand Prix Qualifier on Thursday, also again held it clear in the jump-off, but needed 39.80 seconds to complete their round.

Another notable combination during this opening week in Oliva was Irish rider Eoin Mcmahon and the 10-year-old grey stallion Disney Z, a son of Dimitri Z and Numero Uno from the stud farm of Bækgaarden Youngsters A/S in Denmark. The former rider from Ludger Beerbaum's team already achieved a ^4th place with Disney Z during the Grand Prix Qualifier on Thursday and a ^3rd place during the Longines Ranking Test on Saturday, and also had a top ranking to show for it during the CSI2* Grand Prix. Indeed, with a clear jump-off in 41.06 seconds, they secured ^5th place this time.

But Oliva also saw some blue and yellow victories, one of which came in the name of Belgian Young Riders Champion Mathieu Guery and his 11-year-old gelding Time-Breaker S Z, bred by P. Sleutels from the Netherlands who combined the blood of Toulon and Calvados. Guery and Time-Breaker S Z were the final laureates of the Gold 1.40m class on Friday, in which they were more than two full seconds ahead of their closest pursuers with a clear round in 63.40 seconds.

Those closest chasers were Mexican rider Enrique Gonzalez and the 9-year-old gelding Air Play Ec Z, a son of our chestnut stallion Aganix du Seigneur Z and Calato Z bred by Eduardo Gouveia and Claudia Garcia De Paredes of EC Horses. Gonzalez and Air Play Ec Z, also good for ^8th place during the Gold 1.40m class on Thursday, finished in 65.46 seconds after a clear round, clearly having to acknowledge their superiority to Guery and Time-Breaker S Z.

Victory during that Gold 1.40m class on Thursday then fell to Ukrainian rider Eduard Slobodeniuk and the also 9-year-old grey mare Concordia PKZ Z, a daughter of Cornet Obolensky and Cabrio Z bred by his compatriot Andriy Milovanov. In both the^1st and^2nd phases, the duo did not allow themselves to make a mistake and with a finishing time of 28.86 seconds, they were slightly ahead of the competition. The following days Slobodeniuk and Concordia PKZ Z also confirmed this performance by claiming two more top placings. In the Gold 1.40m class on Friday, they finished ^4th, while in the Gold 1.40m class on Sunday on the final day they came in^2nd.

Furthermore, the ^3rd place during this Gold 1.40m class on Sunday was also coloured blue and yellow thanks to young Belgian rider Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele and the 10-year-old stallion Lotti Blue Z, a son of Le Blue Diamond Van 't Ruytershof and Wandor van de Mispelaere who was born to breeder Alfos Van Bruyssel. They ensured a flawless performance in both phases and thus also secured a podium place.

Finally, his compatriot Seppe Wouters also managed to jump into the prizes twice with the 8-yr-old mare Diva 2000 Z (Diamant de Semilly x Cassini I - breeder: Stud 2000 BVBA), the full sister of none other than Dominator 2000 Z. In both the Gold 1.40m class on Friday and Sunday's class, Wouters and Diva 2000 Z finished in ^eighth place.