Thomas Mertens and Elmo de Bo Z Belgian Champion 5-year-old horses

The Belgian Championship for the 5-year-old horses is Gesves was once again a success for our blue and yellow colours of Zangersheide last weekend! Indeed, for the third year in a row already, a Zangersheide horse was at the top of the standings in this age category on Sunday afternoon. A total of 54 combinations had managed to qualify for the final during the two qualification rounds earlier in the week and they went to battle for the medals on Sunday afternoon. Of those 54 combinations, 11 eventually managed to clear the basic round made by track builder Eugene Mathy and his team and thus qualify for the ultimate jump-off.

In it, the competition was close to the finish line and it was Thomas Mertens who eventually won the Belgian title with the stallion Elmo de Bo Z, a son of Eldorado van de Zeshoek and Catoki from breeder/owner Philippe Bormans. After their clear first round, Mertens and Elmo de Bo Z also managed to complete their jump-off without any faults and with a finishing time of 37.17 seconds they managed to outclass the competition.

However, Elmo de Bo Z was not the only Zangersheide horse on the podium in the 5-year-olds, as the bronze also coloured blue and yellow. For that, rider Charlotte Degeest took care of that with the gelding Noxx van de Molen Z, a son of Nixon Van 't Meulenhof and Papillon Rouge bred by Kristof Engelen. Degeest and Noxx van de Molen Z even managed to provide the fastest finishing time in the jump-off in 34.32 seconds, but a mistake on the way kept them from the gold in the end.

Nico Baerts finished just off the podium in ^4th place with the gelding Emory van de Molen Z (Emerald van 't Ruytershof x Thunder van de Zuuthoeve - B: Kristof Engelen) and there was also a ^6th place for Nina Engelen with Chaquira STS Z (Chaqui Z x Darco - F: Frank Jennen) and an ^8th place for Steven van Rossem with Clinto Van Klapscheut Z (Clinton x Heartbreaker - B: Mivaro BV).