Daniel Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z demonstrate during the Prix Léon Melchior

The breeding day of Jumping Mechelen 2024 ended tonight in the Nekkerhal with a particularly exciting and above all thrilling Prize Léon Melchior! 33 top combinations battled it out on the big Christmas Arena to write this famous Zangersheide Open Sires of the World title on their record.

Course builder Bart Vonck and his team had once again provided a fantastic basic course for this final stallion class of the day and the jumping faults in this 1.45m course were made just about everywhere. In the end, 11 combinations managed to keep their cool in the first round and secured a place in the jump-off.

In a sensational jump-off, it was once again ridden at the cutting edge with German Daniel Deusser and his now 16-year-old stallion Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Mr Blue) as the eventual winners! As the very last combination at the start, the rider from Stephex Stables sent Jonas Bellemans' breeding product to the finish line in 36.40 seconds, shaking the Nekkerhal!

Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z's fantastic round meant Christian Ahlmann and our 10-year-old chestnut stallion Otterongo Alpha Z (Darco x Hedjaz - F: Josef Poets) had to make do with^2nd place in the standings. Ahlmann and Otterongo Alpha Z had taken the lead two combinations earlier after a clear round in 37.03 seconds, but as during the preceding class for the 7-year-old stallions, it became the first place of honour for Ahlmann again.

The bronze went to Portuguese Rodrigo Giesteira Almeida and the 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion Solidat (Semper Fi x Chacco Blue - F: Wilhelm Ovelhey). As the penultimate combination in the ring, he rushed to the finish in 37.72 seconds, thus also securing a podium place.

After their victory at last year's Léon Melchior Prize, Belgian rider Thibault Philippaerts and the 10-year-old stallion Obama de la Liniere (Marius Claudius x Golden Hawk - F: Jeroen Lissens) were once again top-placed. They too could not be caught out in the jump-off and with their finishing time of 39.88 seconds they finished just off the podium in ^4th place. Dutchman Kevin Jochems and the 12-year-old grey stallion Casillas van de Helle (Casall x Corrado I - F: Konrad Bartjen) closed the top of the leaderboard in ^5th place. They reached the finish line in 40.01 seconds after another flawless round.

Click here for the results.