Christal De Laubry Z Belgian Champion 7-year-old horses!

Most of the attention this past week was naturally focused on the Paris Olympics, but in addition to that, there were of course some other important competitions on the programme last weekend. For instance, the second week of the Summer Tour 2024 took place at the Azelhof in Lier, where, among other things, it was looking forward to the Belgian Championship for the 7-year-old horses.

It was once again a busy championship, as, like last year, over 200 combinations appeared at the start. After the two qualifications on Thursday and Friday, the best 59 combinations managed to advance to the grand final on Sunday and in this final, victory was blue and yellow, just like last year. Namely, it was Maverick Van Lent who won the final with the chestnut gelding Cristal De Laubry Z, a son of Comme Il Faut out of the Nabab de Rêve mare Wabelle de Muze and thus a half-brother of Kevin Staut's Grand Prix horse Beau De Laubry Z (Bisquet Balou van de Mispelaere). Van Lent and the Haelterman family's breeding product were one of the seven combinations who managed to stay clear in the final after the two qualifying rounds on Thursday and on Friday, thus securing a spot for the ultimate jump-off. In that jump-off, the duo managed to be the only combination to keep the 0 on the scoreboard again and so they wrote this national title on their record with much conviction!

Also in the top 5 of this Belgian Championship for 7-year-old horses we saw Pieter Kenis with the mare Chackly S&J&F Z, a daughter of Chacoon Blue and Newton de Kreisker bred by Patrick and Karel Sebrechts. They saw one bar roll out of the scoops in that decisive jump-off and this performance eventually earned them ^5th place in the standings.