Bronze for Beauville Z N.O.P. in Gothenburg World Cup

In the World Cup circuit of the Western European League, they were ready for the ^14th and also final stage of the season last weekend. For this they went to Sweden and more specifically to the famous Scandinavium in Gothenburg. It was another fruitful afternoon for our blue and yellow colours on Sunday, as we saw a Z-horse shine on the World Cup podium, just like during the stage in Bordeaux two weeks earlier.

Swedish track builder Peter Lundström and his team had once again set out a beautiful course in Gothenborg's oval track for this last World Cup round of the season. A total of 33 combinations took their chances in the 1.60m class and eight of them eventually made it through to the jump-off. Among them was Dutch rider Maikel van der Vleuten and his 15-year-old gelding Beauville Z N.O.P., the son of Bustique and Jumpy des Fontaines who was bred in the Netherlands by Pascal Habets and whom van der Vleuten also showed strong performances at the World Cups of Madrid, La Coruna and Basel. In the jump-off, Van der Vleuten and Beauville Z N.O.P. also managed to keep all the bars neatly in the scoops and with a finishing time of 36.47 seconds they secured ^3rd place, just like in the Spanish capital.

Maikel van der Vleuten: "I am very happy with the two clear rounds Beauville jumped today. But certainly with the form he showed. I was just not fast enough in the beginning of the jump-off. I have to make sure he is in good shape mentally, if he feels good then he really fights for me."

Besides the ^3rd place of Maikel van der Vleuten and Beauville Z N.O.P., this Longines FEI Jumping Word Cup also saw a fine performance by Norwegian rider Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer and the 11-year-old mare Carabella vd Neyen Z, a daughter of Carrera VDL and Lux Z from the breeding farm of Yves Claes. After Lyngvaer and Carabella vd Neyen Z had already put in a strong performance on Saturday with a ^5th place in the 1.55m main class, they were also among the group of barragists in the World Cup. A clear round in 38.31 seconds earned them a ^4th place in the ranking.

Finally, van der Vleuten's compatriot Lars Kersten also managed to jump into the prizes with the 9-year-old stallion Gentle van de Kattevennen Z, a son of First Gentleman and Darco bred by the late Leon Spronken. In the 1.45m speed class on Sunday morning, Kersten Gentle van de Kattevennen Z provided a flawless round, finishing in ^7th place.