27 December '24
Gilles Thomas and Saladin S win Zangersheide Prize for 6-year-old stallions
© Paardenfotograaf
After the breeders at Jumping Mechelen this morning were looking forward to the final of the free jumping for the 2-year-old horses, this afternoon at the Christmas Arena the starting shot of the sporty breeding programme was given with the jumping class for the 6-year-old stallions. A total of 23 combinations took their chances in this first Zangersheide Prize of the day, of which 11 managed to jump to a place in the jump-off.
Among them, of course, quite a few Belgian combinations and one of them was Belgian Champion Gilles Thomas with the stallion Saladin 'S', a son of Ducati van Schuttershof and Cash who was bred by Hens - Verhelst and who is also out of the same dam as Thomas' former Grand Prix horse Konak (Nabab de Rêve). Halfway through the jump-off, Thomas and Saladin 'S' re-entered the ring as the sixth combination and managed to put the winning time on the scoreboard in 30.87 seconds.
With his strong round, Thomas edged Dutch rider Harrie Smolders intosecond place in the standings. Smolders, with the stallion Ecclestone Z (Escape Z x Cassini II) owned by breeders Willem van Hoof and Yvonne Copal, had taken the lead moments before with a clear round in 31.17 seconds, but eventually had to beat the Belgian star rider.
3rd place was again Belgian thanks to Wim Vinckx and the stallion Vivace Vd Kattevennen Z (Vivaldi du Seigneur x Cassini I), a breeding product of the Spronken family and a half-brother of none other than Uricas van de Kattevennen (Uriko). Vinckx and Vivace Vd Kattevennen Z were the first in the jump-off and immediately set the tone with a clear round in 32.32 seconds.
Jeroen De Winter came 4th with Sunday JM (Ermitage Kalone x Chicago Z - B: Bvba Van Dijck Hengsthouderij), while Wim Vinckx completed the top 5 with the stallion Senor De Balou Van 't Ravennest (Balou du Rouet x Cardento VDL - B: Frederic Coens & Isabel De Rycker ).
Click here for the results.