Tobago Z offspring Otello De Guldenboom wins silver in World Cup final

After an intense World Cup season, last weekend all eyes were on Forth Worth, Texas, where the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final was on the programme. The best thirty-five riders and amazons from the world's various leagues gathered there and went into battle with only one goal: to pocket that coveted World Cup title. The final on Sunday evening had a fantastic denouement for our blue/yellow colours of Zangersheide, with a podium finish for Tobago Z offspring Otello De Guldenboom.

The 30 best combinations from the first two rounds on Thursday and Friday had managed to qualify for this grand final, which took a particularly exciting and nerve-racking course. The first round by Mexican coursedesigner Anderson Lima and his team featured a lot of technical aspects including many colourful obstacles, a striking wall and a challenging double jump with water tank. This meant that only four combinations managed to finish the first round successfully. One of those four were German Daniel Deusser and his 11-year-old stallion Otello De Guldenboom, a son of our chestnut stallion Tobago Z and Caretino born to breeder Hugo Versnick. Deusser and Otello De Guldenboom started the final day in ^4th place with a score of 7 penalty points, but their fantastic round saw them jump to a provisional^2nd place.

The top 20 from that first round then went on to a second and decisive round, which also offered many challenges. From a wooden plank 'wall', to a tricky double jump along to the side and a treacherous oxer as the exit of the triple jump. Because Deuser and Tobago Z had climbed to^2nd place, they had the luxury of only reappearing in the ring as penultimate in the decisive round. The duo once again managed to keep their cool and with a whirlwind round they secured silver in this World Cup Final.

Daniel Deusser: "My expectations for this World Cup Final were high. That's why I was here. (laughs). I had a very good start on day one, but a jumping fault on day two put me back a bit in the standings. During the final, I have to say that Otello really gave it his all. He really did his best and I must say I am very proud of him."

However, Deusser had to leave the top prize at this World Cup Final to American rider Kent Farrington. He was riding his grey mare Greya for this final, but counted on his 12-year-old mare Toulayna (ex Toulayna van het Bloesemhof Z - Toulon x Parco) in the first qualifying round on Thursday. Farrington and Toulayna managed to keep all competition behind them in this class against the clock and so Jasper Doucé's breeding product also had her share of the world No 2 World Cup title.

In the second qualifying round on Friday, Norwegian rider Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer provided a great result with her also 12-year-old mare Carabella vd Neyen Z (Carrera VDL x Lux Z), bred by Yves Claes. Lyngvaer and Carabella vd Neyen Z stayed clear in the first round, making them one of the seven combinations that qualified for the jump-off. In it they managed to stay clear again and with a finishing time of 35.95 seconds they finished in ^4th place.

Finally, Belgian rider Abdel Saïd also had a great weekend with his 11-year-old gelding Quaker Brimbelles Z (Quicksilver St Simeon x Hickstead - breeder: Haras des Brimbelles). During the qualifying rounds on Thursday and Friday, they were good for ^7th and ^9th place respectively, while in the final ranking they took ^8th place.