13 October '25
Z-horses set the tone under the Spanish sun

© Mediterranean Equestrian Tour - Hervé Bonnaud
The second week of the Oliva Mediterranean Equestrian Tour was a great success for our blue and yellow colours of Zangersheide last weekend! Victories, podium places and strong performances followed one another in quick succession, once again making the Z-horses emphatically heard in the south of Spain.
The CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon was the absolute highlight of the weekend in Oliva and with both gold and silver, it was completely dominated by the Z-horses! Upwards of sixty combinations appeared at the start of this 1.50m class, drawn out by Spanish course designer Isabel Fernández de Cañete and her. Of those sixty combinations, only eight managed to clear the technical basic round to qualify for the jump-off. The fastest of that select group was Dutch rider Willem Greve with the 10-year-old mare Candy Luck Z, a daughter of Comme Il Faut and Canturo from the breeding farm of Dirk Geerinckx. Greve and Candy Luck Z, who also finished 8th in the qualification for this Grand Prix on Thursday, rode a masterful round in the jump-off and with a whirlwind finishing time in 33.82 seconds, they were more than a second and a half ahead of the competition!
Willem Greve: "It was a pretty tricky Grand Prix. However, Candy Luck Z cooperated very well, she was really on my side. In the jump-off we were first up and we clocked a time that the others had to ride for - and it paid off. Candy Luck is a horse I ride for the Volpi family. She is a really fine mare and I am happy to have such a talented horse in my team."
But2nd place in this closing round of the weekend was also taken by a Z horse thanks to German rider Kendra Claricia Brinkop with the 13-year-old grey gelding Dawa de Greenbay Z (Diarado x Schilling - Breeder: Stéphane Chantot). The duo, who had already won a brilliant 3rd place twice during the opening week, provided another strong performance, but with a finishing time of 35.38 seconds they clearly had to acknowledge their superiority to the winning performance of Greve and Candy Luck Z.
Due to the bad weather conditions on Friday, the schedule in Oliva was turned upside down considerably, resulting in not one, but two Longines Ranking classes on Saturday. In both classes, we saw a Z horse at the top of the rankings and in the class against the clock, that honour went to Colombian rider Ruben Arroyave Munoz and the 13-year-old mare Valeska Z, a daughter of Van Gogh and Balou du Rouet bred in Germany by Nadine Resche. Arroyave and Valeska Z, who had already started their competition week on Thursday with a 3rd place in the Gold 1.40m class, sped to the finish line in 55.60 seconds, outclassing the competition. Moreover, on Sunday during the final day, the successful duo made themselves heard again, when they added 4th place to their record during another Longines Ranking class.

Later on Saturday, however, a second Longines Ranking Test also took place and in it, too, victory was thus coloured blue and yellow. This time it was the young Belgian rider Mathieu Guery who jumped to victory with the 10-year-old gelding Time-Breaker S Z, a son of Toulon and Calvados bred by P. Sleutels in the Netherlands. Guery and Time Breaker S Z kept nicely clear in both the1st and2nd stages and with a finishing time of 26.07 seconds, they had over a quarter of a second ahead of their closest pursuers.

And those closest chasers were British rider James Smith and the 14-year-old stallion Eagele Z (Eldorado Vd Zeshoek x Ramiro Z - Breeder: Bart Timmermans). They also made no mistake in this Longines Ranking class, but needed 26.35 seconds to finish their2nd phase successfully.
Finally, Oliva was also a successful competition week for Belgian rider Constant van Paesschen and the 11-year-old mare Kannavara Z (Kannan x Contender - breeder Davy Blyau). They competed twice, managing to jump to a nice 5th place in both the 1.45m Longines Ranking Test on Saturday and the CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday.