Fellaini de Liebri Z scores silver in the CSI3* Grand Prix of St. Tropez

Just like in Italy, there was a lot of activity in France last weekend, where both the Gassin Polo Club of St. Tropez and Compiègne saw jumping at three-star level. In St. Tropez, Swedish rider Marcus Westergren and the 11-year-old grey mare Fellani de Liebri Z, among others, were at the start and they also managed to provide a banging performance in the CSI3* Grand Prix this week.

Marcus Westergren and Fellani de Liebri Z, a daughter of Faustino de Tiji and Corrado I out of the Liebri BVBA breeding farm of Lieven Bruyneel, already achieved ^5th place in the CSI3* Grand Prix during the first week of this third showjumping tour and were keen to do even better during this final week. At the closing CSI3* Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon, they stayed clear in the basic round and so once again managed to qualify for the jump-off. In that 11-strong jump-off, the successful duo again kept all the bars neatly in the reels and their finishing time of 43.36 seconds this time earned them^2nd place in the standings.

Apart from Marcus Westergren and Fellani de Liebri Z, Liechtenstein rider Jennifer Hochstaedter also managed to qualify for the jump-off with the 15-year-old gelding Winnetou de La Hamente Z, a son of Winningmood van de Arenberg and Socrate de Chivre who was bred by Emmanuel Wera and who is mainly known from under the saddle of Swedish rider Evelina Tovek. In that jump-off, Hochstaedter and Winnetou de La Hamente Z were once again unbeaten and with a finishing time of 45.42 seconds they secured ^5th place in the standings.

Earlier on Sunday, the 1.45m Small Tour was also on the programme for the riders of the CSI3* competition, in which victory was blue and yellow. It was the Belgian rider who managed to claim victory with the also 15-year-old grey mare Cloe GP Z, a daughter of Corrdino and Takashi Van Berkenbroeck bred by Juan Carlos Hernandez, with whom Kenis also managed to secure ^4th place in the 1.45m class the day before. In both the^1st and^2nd phases Kenis and Cloe GP Z provided a flawless performance and with a convincing finishing time of 37.29 seconds they were almost 2.5 seconds ahead of the rest of the field of competitors.

Also on the podium in this 1.45m class was Kenis' compatriot Beau Vandousselaere with the 12-year-old gelding Boebka vh Marienshof Z, a son of Balou du Rouet and Clinton from the breeding farm of Johny De Coninck and Sandra Ecker of Marienshof Stables. They crossed the finish line in 40.22 seconds in the^2nd phase, which in turn entitled them to ^3rd place.

The 1.50m Grand Prix qualifier on Friday also saw a Zangersheide victory thanks to fast Luxembourg rider Victor Bettendorf and the 10-year-old gelding Atchoum de La Roque Z, a son of Armitages Boy and Bentley van de Heffinck bred in France by EURL Top Stallion Company. In a jump-off for which 19 combinations managed to qualify, they sped to the finish in 39.57 seconds, more than two full seconds ahead of the competition.

In this class, Norwegian rider Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer was also at the top of the leaderboard with her 11-year-old mare Carabella Vd Neyen Z, the breeding product of Yves Claes who combined the blood of Carrera VDL with that of Lux Z. Lyngvaer and Carabella Vd Neyen Z finished in 42.86 seconds after a clear jump-off, which was finally good for ^4th place.

In the 1.50m Longines Ranking class on Saturday, Belgian rider Yves Vanderhasselt managed to jump into the spotlight with the 10-year-old gelding Denzelnoor Z, a son of Denzel Van 't Meulenhof and Querlybet Hero bred by J. Van Kilsdonk. Vanderhasselt and Denzelnoor Z ensured a neat clear round in both the first and second and decisive ones and this performance also earned him ^4th place in the standings.

Finally, Vanderhasselt also managed to finish twice with the 9-year-old grey mare Hailey Dc Stables Z (Hooligan de Laubry Z x Caretino - B: Dc Stables). During the 1.45m class on Friday, they finished in ^8th place and during the 1.45m Small Tour on Sunday they closed their competition with ^9th place. Then a fault in the jump-off kept them off the podium.