Vamos de la Pomme d'Or Z colours the Grand Prix podium in Oliva

It was another busy weekend on Spanish soil, where there was international action both at the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour of Oliva and a little further on at the Mouratours in Valencia. In Oliva, the third and final week of MET I was already under way, with several Z-horses having another strong weekend.

The weather conditions last weekend on the Spanish coast were not exactly the most ideal. On Saturday, for instance, all classes had to be cancelled due to strong gusts of wind, which meant some rescheduling of the competition programme. During the final day on Sunday, the programme was fortunately able to go ahead and the CSI3* Grand Prix was of course the main event. This took place just before noon at the Oliva Nova Arena, in which forty-five combinations took their chances. The basic course by Olympic course designer Santiago Varela and his team had a lot of technical challenges and in the end eight of the forty-five combinations managed to qualify for the jump-off. One of those eight was young Belgian rider Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele and his 11-year-old grey gelding Vamos de la Pomme d'Or Z, a son of Vigo d'Arsouilles and Ogano Sitte who was born by breeder Patrick Huyse. Vandecasteele and Vamos de la Pomme d'Or Z also made their mark in the 1.50m Grand Prix Qualifier on Friday with a ^9th place and also managed to ensure a flawless performance in the Grand Prix jump-off. In doing so, they finished in 50.17 seconds, securing a nice^2nd place.

Also in this Grand Prix, Irish rider Niall Talbot once again confirmed his good form with the also 11-year-old stallion Charming Dream Z, a son of Carrera VDL and Evli Cagliostro bred in the Netherlands by L.H.M. SNeijers. Talbot and Charming Dream Z, still good for a win in the 1.45m Longines Ranking Test on Saturday the week before, managed to do it in 43.69 seconds significantly faster than Vandecasteele and Vamos de la Pomme d'Or Z, but a mistake on the way unfortunately kept them off the Grand Prix podium and made them settle for ^4th place.

Furthermore, Vandecasteele's compatriot Leonie Peeters was also among the group of barragists with her 12-year-old stallion Kameroen Eb Z, a son of Kannan and Quantum from the LVP Stables breeding farm. Peeters and Kameroen Eb Z ran into eight penalty points in the jump-off, which put them in ^7th place, just like during the 1.50m Grand Prix Qualifier on Friday.

After the CSI3* Grand Prix, a 1.45m Longines Ranking Test also took place on Sunday for the riders of the three-star competition, in which victory was blue and yellow. The honour went to Belgian Young Riders Champion Mathieu Guery with his 11-year-old gelding Time-Breaker S Z, the son of Toulon and Calvados from the breeding farm of P. Sleutels in the Netherlands. In a jump-off for which only three of the forty-two combinations qualified, the son of Jérôme Guery and Time-Breaker S Z once again kept all the bars in the scoops and with a finishing time of 41.97 seconds he wrote this Longines Ranking Test on his record with a lot of flair.

Besides his^2nd place in the CSI3* Grand Prix with Vamos de la Pomme d'Or Z, Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele also had another successful weekend with the 10-year-old stallion Lotti Blue Z, a breeding product of Alfons Van Bruyssel who combined the blood of Le Blue Diamond van 't Ruytershof with that of Wandor van de Mispelaere. Thus, Vandecasteele and Lotti Blue Z immediately became the overall winners in the Gold 1.40m class on Thursday. In both the^1st and^2nd phases they did not make a mistake and with a finishing time of 28.76 seconds they were the only combination that managed to keep the time under 30 seconds. On the final day on Sunday, they were also back on the rendezvous, jumping to ^6th place in the 1.45m Longines Ranking class.

Also two placings were in Oliva for 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 EC Horses. Gonzalez and Air Play EC Z started their competition week on Thursday with a ^3rd place in the Gold 1.40m class and closed on Sunday with an ^8th place in the 1.45m Longines Ranking class.

Finally, Belgian rider Seppe Wouters also managed to score a podium place last week with the 8-year-old mare Libelle Asborne Z (Lector vd Bisschop x Calvaro Z - breeder: BVBA Asborne). In the Gold 1.40m class on Thursday they took ^3rd place after a clear round.