Beauville Z N.O.P. has strong weekend in Rome

Last weekend, there was of course a lot of attention for the ^10th edition of the Brussels Stephex Masters in Wolvertem, but with the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rome, there was also a second five-star competition on European soil in the past few days.

In the Italian capital, among others, Dutch rider Maikel van der Vleuten appeared at the start with his 14-year-old top gelding Beauville Z N.O.P., the horse with which he won individual bronze at the Paris Olympics last month. Beauville Z N.O.P., a son of Bustique and Jumpy des Fontaines from the breeding farm of Pascal and Monique Habets, managed to impress again with Van der Vleuten on Saturday by winning the first round of the Global Champions League. In this 1.55m class against the clock, the duo recorded a time of 60.56 seconds, making them almost a full second faster than their closest competitors in the individual standings.

On Sunday, van der Vleuten also counted on his Beauville Z N.O.P. for the prestigious LGCT Grand Prix and in this event, the successful duo once again came out strong. Indeed, after a clear round, they were one of only six combinations to qualify for the jump-off. In it, their hare unfortunately saw a bar roll out of the scoops and this performance eventually earned them ^5th place in the standings.

After their good performance in London a fortnight ago, it was another successful competition in Rome for French rider Simon Delestre and his 11-year-old gelding Dexter Fontenis Z, the son of Diarado and Voltaire bred by S.C.R.I S.Ky Horses. During the second and decisive round of the Global Champions League over a height of 1.60m, Delestre and Dexter Fontenis Z provided a flawless round, with a nice^2nd place in the individual standings as the final result.

In addition to the LGCT Grand Prix, a 1.45m high speed class was also on the programme on Sunday, and in it Luxembourg rider Victor Bettendorf and the 13-year-old mare Cancun Torel Z, the daughter of Cosinhus and Grannus who was bred in France by François Xavier Guyard and who until recently could be seen under the saddle of fast French rider Julien Epaillard, also took^2nd place. Bettendorf and Cancun Torel Z managed to keep all obstacles intact and ended up barely 4 hundredths of a second short of victory.