New Grand Prix victory for Philipp Weishaupt and Coby 8!

A few weeks after their strong performances at the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour of Oliva and the Andalucia Sunshine Tour of Vejer de la Frontera, German rider Philippe Weishaupt and his 14-year-old gelding Coby 8 provided another bang for the buck last weekend! The successful appeared at the start of the second Toscana Tour in Arezzo and together they became the winners of the CSI3* GP there yesterday!

Philipp Weishaupt and Coby 8, a son of our grey stallion Contagio Z and Escudo 19 who was bred in Germany by Jürger Geffken, have already had some strong competitions on their hands during these first months of 2024. In January they already jumped into the picture with a win and a^2nd place at the CSI3* Grand Prix of Oliva and in February there was also a^2nd place at the CSI4* GP of Vejer de la Frontera. So last week Weishaupt travelled to Italy for the second tour of the Toscana Tour in Arezzo and there Weishaupt and Coby 8 confirmed their excellent form yet again.

The basic round of the CSI3* GP over a height of 1.50m proved to be a particularly technical and above all tough task yesterday. A total of 60 combinations made their appearance there, but only 4 of them managed to get through the basic round held by French arena builder Gregory Bodo and his team unscathed and thus secure a place in the jump-off. As the first combination at the start, Weishaupt and Coby 8 once again provided a flawless round and with a time of 37.42 seconds, they immediately managed to set a time the competition would gnash their teeth on.

Besides Philipp Weishaupt and Coby 8's Grand Prix victory, there was also success for the blood of our grey stallion Asca Z last weekend in Arezzo thanks to Italian rider Giulia Picotto and the 11-year-old stallion Armani E.A. Z, a breeding product of Elke Appeltans who combined the blood of Asca Z with that of Fortuin Z. After already having gained ^4th place on Thursday during the opening day, Picotto and Armani E.A. Z became the winners of the Gold 1.40m class on Friday. During both the^1st and^2nd phases, they neatly kept all obstacles in the scoops and with a time of 31.96 seconds they were more than a quarter of a second ahead of the competition! And also yesterday during the final day, the duo additionally had a top ranking. In the Gold 1.40m class against the clock, they were once again unbeaten and this performance earned them^2nd place in the standings this time.

Swedish rider Erica Swartz also managed to jump into the prizes twice with her homebred 10-year-old gelding Cavicii Z, a son of Carlow van de Helle combined with Cardento VDL. In both the 1.40m class on Thursday and the 1.40m class on Saturday, Swartz and Cavicii Z managed to secure a ^4th place in the standings. Last but not least, Italian rider Giampiero Garofalo and 9-year-old grey mare Talina Du Vivier Z (Taalex x Quick Star - B: Alphonse Nicolaije) both finished in ^4th place, as did Hungarian rider Vince Jarmy and 9-year-old mare Carbon Girl Z (Chester Z x Baloubet du Rouet - B: Gestüt Lewitz), both in a 1.40m class.