Milton Z jumps to silver in the World Cup Grand Prix of El Jadida

After the shows in Tetouan and Rabat, the 3-week during Morocco Royal Tour came to an end last weekend with a four-star show in El Jadida. It became another top weekend for the Belgian rider Cyril Cools and his 12-year-old grey stallion Milton Z, the son of Mylord Carthago and Sandro Boy, who was bred in the Netherlands by Freek Hoogenboom and with whom Cools has already achieved some strong performances in recent weeks. Just think of his 2nd place during the World Cup Grand Prix of Tetouan and his 2 clear rounds during the CSIO4* Nations Cup of Rabat.

And this weekend, Cools and Milton Z once again showed their excellent form with two top placings. On Saturday, they secured a podium place during the 1.50m high Longines Ranking class. After a flawless first round, they also managed to keep it clear during the second and decisive round and this performance earned them a nice 3rd place in the rankings.

But the highlight of the weekend came last night during the 1.55m high World Cup Grand Prix. Cools and Milton Z remained clear in the basic round and were therefore among the 11 combinations that managed to qualify for the jump-off. They once again managed to achieve a flawless performance, which, just like in Tetouan, earned them a 2nd place in the rankings.

Next to his good performances with Milton Z, Cools also managed to jump into the spotlight again in El Jadida with the 14-year-old grey mare Seahorse Z, a daughter of Scendix and Chellano Z, who was bred by NV Chatho. They made an excellent start to their show with a victory during the 1.40m high opening class on Thursday. During both the 1st and the 2nd phase they managed to keep all the poles in the cups and with a finishing time of 30.18 seconds they added another victory to their list of honors. On Saturday, Cools and Seahorse Z once again confirmed their good form by jumping to a 2nd place during the 1.45m high speed class.

Who also managed to ensure a blue/yellow victory in El Jadida was the French rider Nicolas Deseuzes with the 10-year-old stallion Eldorado Sunheup Z, a son of Eldorado van de Zeshoek TN and Quartz du Chanu, who was bred in France by Carine Groualle and with whom he already secured a 9th place on Friday during the 1.40m class. Deseuzes and Eldorado Sunheup Z became the winners of the 1.50m Longines Ranking class on Saturday, where they were just under half a second ahead of the competition with a flawless second round in 35.94 seconds.

But the 2nd place during this 1.50m class was also colored blue and yellow and this was achieved by the Belgian lady rider Charlotte Philippe with her 13-year-old mare Cacharel de Amoranda Z, a daughter of Corlensky G and Lord Z who was bred by Luiz Felipe Neto de Azevedo. Philippe and Cacharel de Amoranda Z managed to stop the clock in 36.40 seconds during that second and decisive round. A day earlier, they had also managed to achieve a 3rd place during the 1.40m class.