18 August '25
Z-horses shine in Ottawa Grand Prix
© Ben Radvanyi Photography
No five-star competition on European soil last weekend, but on the other side of the ocean there was jumping at the highest level in recent days. The place to be was the Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, Canada, where a new edition of RBC Ottawa International took place. It turned out to be a fruitful weekend for our blue/yellow studbook colours, as a Z-horse managed to shine in both the CSI5* Grand Prix and the CSI2* Grand Prix.
The CSI5* Grand Prix over a height of 1.60m was, of course, the absolute highlight of the weekend and it had an exciting run. Brazilian course designer Marina Azevedo had set a pretty challenging round and of the twenty-three combinations that took their chances, only three managed to advance to the jump-off. One of those three was British rider Jessica Mendoza and the 10-year-old stallion Summerhouse, a son of Guidam Sohn and Indoctro and born to his Dutch breeder C. den Boer as Guidam Sohn The Second Z. As the first combination to start, Mendoza and Summerhouse immediately managed to put the fastest time on the scoreboard in 38.08 seconds, but a mistake on the way ultimately kept them from victory and made them have to settle for first place of honour.
Earlier on Sunday, the CSI2* Grand Prix already took place in Ottawa and in it we did see a Z-horse at the top of the leaderboard. It was American rider Adrienne Sternlicht who jumped to victory with the 9-year-old mare Corablue Z, a daughter of Corydon Van T&L and Los Angeles 20, bred in Germany by Heinz Teeuwen. In a jump-off for which six combinations managed to qualify, Sternlicht and Corablue Z sped to the finish in 41.80 seconds, putting them more than a full second ahead of the rest of the field of competitors.
In the 1.50m main class on Friday, Irish rider Darragh Kenny secured a podium place with the 10-year-old mare Colibelle Hero Z (Comme Il Faut x Rubens du Ri d'Asse), bred Marc Kluskens and Luc Henry. In both the basic round and the jump-off they produced a flawless performance and their finishing time of 37.52 seconds earned them2nd place in the rankings.
Also on Friday, US rider Caroline Mawhinney jumped into the spotlight with the 12-year-old gelding Carsey Z (Carthino Z x Guidam), who was both bred and trained by Dutch rider Gerben Morsink. In the 1.45m class of the two-star competition, the duo secured 4th place after keeping all the rails neatly in the rails in both the basic round and the jump-off.
Furthermore, American rider McLain Ward also secured another podium place in Ottawa with the 9-year-old gelding Snapchat van de Broekkant Z (Hunter's Scendix x Concorde) from the breeding farm of Inno Lamers. They started their competition on Thursday with a handsome 3rd place and this after a double clear round.