Fufu Z jumps to silver in Doha CSI3* GP

The Longines Arena at Al Shaqab in Doha last weekend kicked off the new season of the Longines Global Champions Tour. Over the next few months, at 16 dazzling destinations in 14 different countries, the world's best riders will once again gather and compete in the various teams and, of course, individually.

Most of the attention last weekend naturally went to the CSI5* competition, but in addition to that, a CSI3* competition was also scheduled in the oil state. The highlight of that CSI3* competition was the CSI3* GP on Saturday afternoon, in which a podium place was reserved for Swedish rider Henrik Von Eckermann with the 10-year-old stallion Fufu Z, a son of Fernando-H and Casantos who was bred in the Netherlands by Wilbert Beukens. Von Eckermann and Fufu Z also managed to secure some top placings at the Doha Tour in January and were one of the 10 combinations to secure a place in the jump-off last Saturday. In that jump-off they managed to ensure another flawless round and this performance earned them a nice^2nd place in the standings.

Also making the jump-off at this CSI3* GP was Saudi rider Khaled Abdulrahman Almobty with the 9-year-old mare Diana du Plevau Z, a breeding product of Marc Palm who combined the blood of our new stallion Dieu Merci Van T&L Z with that of Kashmir Van Schuttershof. The duo, already good for a ^3rd place in the 1.45m class on Thursday during the opening day, had to deal with 4 penalties in the jump-off and ended up in ^8th place.

^Second place during this 1.45m class on Thursday was for Brazilian rider Santiago Lambre with the 15-year-old gelding Cetano Van Aspergem Z, a son of Clinton I and Ahorn Z from the Katelijn Desmet breeding farm. In a class against the clock, Lambre and Cetano Van Aspergem Z finished in 58.52 seconds, beating only fast Italian Emanuel Gaudiano (Crack Balou).

Also in the limelight in the CSI3* competition were Kuwaiti rider Ali Al Khorafi and the 10-year-old mare Crowny Z (Crown Z x Papillon Rouge - B: Bruno Rocuet). Al Khorafi and Crowny Z started their competition on Thursday with a ^4th place in the 1.45m class and during the 1.40m class on Sunday they were good for a nice^2nd place in the standings.

Furthermore, it was also another successful weekend for Christian Ahlmann and our 10-year-old chestnut stallion Otterongo Alpha Z (Darco x Hedjaz - B: Jozef Poets), with whom he managed to finish ^3rd and ^5th at CHI Al Shaqab last week. On the opening day on Thursday, Ahlmann and Otterongo Alpha Z were immediately on target with a ^4th place during the CSI5* 1.45m class and a day later they jumped to another individual ^10th place during the first round of the Global Champions League.