Double victory for Wilm Vermeir and Belle Amie vd Dassenheide Z

Last weekend there was of course a lot of action outside our borders, but there was also some international jumping in our own country. The halls of Flanders Horse Expo in Ghent formed the backdrop for another edition of Flanders Horse Expo, a unique event with a fair for riders, drivers and breeders on the one hand, but above all with a lot of national and international show jumping. The highlight of the weekend there was the CSI2* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, in which victory coloured blue and yellow for the second year in a row.

The 1.45m high final at Flanders Horse Expo in Ghent proved to be a particularly tough and difficult challenge. Of the 41 combinations that took their chances, only six managed to keep their cool in the basic round and thus qualify for the jump-off. One of those 6 barragists was Belgian rider Wilm Vermeir and the 9-year-old mare Belle Amie Vd Dassenheide Z, a daughter of Bamako de Muze and Emerald van 't Ruytershof who was bred by Jill Goossens and whom Vermeir also won victories at the competitions in Opglabbeek and Lier in recent weeks. Vermeir and Belle Amie Vd Dassenheide Z also won the 1.45m Longines Ranking class on Friday and during the jump-off of the CSI2* Grand Prix they had the luxury of appearing in the ring again as the very last combination. This time too, they managed to ensure a whirlwind round and with a finishing time of 32.53 seconds they ensured a unique double.

However, Vermeir and Belle Amie Vd Dassenheide Z were not the only ones to achieve blue/yellow success at this CSI2* Grand Prix. There was also a podium place for Dutch rider Pieter Jan de Visser and the 10-year-old chestnut mare For2day Z, a daughter of For Pleasure and Diamant de Semilly out of Jan De Visser's breeding. De Visser and For2day Z also provided a clear jump-off and with a 34.95 seconds they secured ^3rd place in the standings.

The other places in the top 5 of the standings went to Visser's compatriot Sjoerd Kommers with the 11-year-old gelding Kaviaar Delta Mossel Z (Kannan x Vigo d'Arsouilles - B: W. Van De Plasse) and Belgian rider Maurice van Roosbroeck with the also 11-year-old gelding Emir du Coeur des Collines Z (Elvis Ter Putte x Calypso III - B: Eric Vandewiele).

Sjoerd Kommers also had another strong weekend with the 11-year-old mare l'Alize Z, a daughter of l'Arc de Triomphe and Quattro B bred in Germany by Harald Gassen. They started their competition on Thursday with a ^6th place in the 1.35m class, and the following days saw a ^3rd place in the 1.35m class on Friday and a ^5th place in the 1.40m class on Saturday.

Last but not least, Belgian rider Jean-Christophe de Grande also managed to place twice with the 10-year-old stallion Anubis van de Vossestaart Z, a breeding product of Alex Cnockaert who combined the blood of Aimar van het Polderhof with that of Toulon. De Grande and Anubis van de Vossestaart Z jumped to ^7th place during the Longines Ranking Test on Friday, while in the CSI2* Grand Prix they took ^10th place in the rankings.