13 June '23
Beauville Z N.O.P. wins the LGCT Grand Prix of Cannes!
© Longines Global Champions Tour
The Dutch rider Maikel van der Vleuten and his 13-year-old gelding Beauville Z N.O.P. (Bustique x Jumpy des Fontaines) impressed again in the Longines Global Champions Tour last weekend! After already finishing 3rd in the GP of Miami and 6th in the GP of Mexico City a few weeks ago, they have now also added an LGCT GP victory to their list of honors. In the French film city Cannes, they became the winners last Saturday after a jump-off in an awe-inspiring film festival style.
Van der Vleuten and the breeding product of Pascal Habets have been doing very well in recent weeks and confirmed their good form once again last weekend. They already came out very strong on Friday during the second and decisive round of the Global Champions League. In a class against the clock, they secured a 2nd place in the individual ranking after a brilliant clear round.
But the highlight of the weekend came on Saturday evening during the famous Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix. Van der Vleuten and Beauville Z entered the ring as the penultimate combination and they were the last combination who qualified for a 13-strong jump-off. In that jump-off they provided a dream scenario, because they managed to beat the competition with a fantastic round in 39.37 seconds.
Maikel van der Vleuten: "It’s a fantastic feeling, I made a plan together with my father and it's a fantastic feeling when it works out that well. My family was here today as well as the owner of Beauville, Marta Ortega Pérez with her husband, so it was a fantastic moment for me today."
Who also qualified for the jump-off during this LGCT GP was the Belgian rider Gilles Thomas with the 9-year-old stallion Elfra van Beek Z (El Salvador x Vagabond de la Pomme – B: 't Eirbissemhof), with whom he already became 6th during the second round of Global Champions League on Friday. Thomas and Elfra van Beek Z had to deal with 4 penalty points in the jump-off and this performance eventually resulted in a 9th place in the ranking.
Gilles Thomas also managed to jump into the spotlight again with the 11-year-old stallion Feromas van Beek Z (Fantomas de Muze x Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve – B: ’t Eirbissemhof). Both on Thursday during the 1.45m class and on Saturday during the 1.50m class, the duo jumped to a nice 2nd place in the ranking.
During the second round of the Global Champions League on Friday, the French rider Julien Anquetin was also placed with the 10-year-old grey stallion Z Ice Cube Z (Zacharov TN x Casco – B: P.J. Amendt). They ran into 4 penalty points along the way, but due to a good finish time they eventually finished 8th in the ranking.
Finally, Pieter Devos and his 15-year-old mare Claire Z (Clearway x Coronado – B: PGMBH Hammes) managed to jump to a 10th place during the 1.45m high opening class on Thursday.