Double for James Smith and Dominican 2000 Z at Valencia

The seventh and final week of the Moura Tours in Valencia last weekend again brought a lot of Z-horses to the start. They did not go unnoticed this time either, as throughout the weekend they again managed to provide many fine performances.

The most striking name was that of the 10-yr-old bay gelding Dominican 2000 Z, a son of Dominator 2000 Z and Casir ASK, bred by Carl Brems and Mieke Bosma. Dominican 2000 Z has been a combination with British rider James Smith for some time and last weekend they managed to add two classes to their record in Valencia. In both the 1.40m class on Friday and Saturday's class, they were particularly strong and managed to outclass the competition.

However, Smith and Dominican 2000 Z were not the only ones to win a top prize in Valencia. There was also victory for the fast Luxembourger Victor Bettendorf and the 14-year-old black mare Cancun Torel Z, the daughter of Cosinhus and Grannus who was bred in France by François Xavier Guyard. During the 1.45m high Longines Ranking Test on Thursday, Bettendorf and Cancun Torel Z sped to the finish in 57.17 seconds, giving them a lead of more than two full seconds over the rest of the field of competitors.

In the 1.45m Longines Ranking class on Friday, it was Swedish rider Marcus Westergren who managed to claim victory with 11-year-old mare Fellaini de Liebri Z, a daughter of Faustino de Tiji and Corrado I from the breeding farm of Lieven Bruyneel of the Liebri BVBA. In a jump-off for which six combinations managed to qualify, they again kept all the bars in the reels and with a finishing time of 42.99 seconds, they were 16 hundredths of a second ahead of the competition. During the CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday, they Westergren and Fellaino de Liebri Z confirmed this performance with another 6th place. Then a mistake in the basic round unfortunately kept them out of the jump-off.

But 2nd place in the Longines Ranking Test on Friday was also coloured blue and yellow thanks to Colombian Marco Antonio Peixoto Ferreira Filho and the 13-year-old chestnut gelding Everest V'T Hof V Eversem Z, a son Epleaser Van 't Heike Z and Concreto born to Ronny Maes. They too could not find any fault in the jump-off, but needed 43.15 seconds to complete their round successfully.

Finally, Belgian rider Tim Prouvé also had a strong weekend with the 11-year-old chestnut mare Ackila DV Z, a daughter of Aktion Pur Z and Gotspe Z bred by Pieter Devos. Prouvé and Ackila DV Z competed three times, winning a 3rd and twice a 2nd place.