Another GP victory in Vilamoura!

The Zangersheide horses are clearly feeling well on the Atlantic Tour of Vilamoura, Portugal! Yesterday, for the second week in a row, the CSI3* GP had a Zangersheide horse at the top of the ranking. After the victory of Victor Bettendorf and Simolo de la Roque Z the week before, the honor this time fell to the Dutch rider Niels Kersten with the 11-year-old mare Tippy Z, a daughter of Tyson and Jetset-D who was bred by E. Ickenroth and T.H. Emans. Kersten and Tippy Z were one of the 10 combinations that managed to keep it clear in the basic round and so qualified for the jump-off. They were the very last to start in that jump-off and created a dream scenario. They managed to keep all the poles in the cups and with a finish time of 38.53 seconds they were more than one and a half seconds ahead of the competition!

But Kersten and Tippy Z were not the only ones who managed to secure a Zangersheide victory yesterday, because also the victory in the 1.45m Longines Ranking class earlier in the day colored already blue and yellow. The British rider Guy Williams took care of this with the 13-year-old chestnut mare Crispina Z, a daughter of Corofino 2 and Bon Ami who was bred by Malcolm Holder and with whom Williams also placed 2nd on Thursday in the 1.45m main class. In a jump-off for which 16 combinations were able to qualify, Williams and Crispina Z rushed to a finish time of 36.61 seconds and so beated the competition by more than half a second.

Niels Kersten was also placed in this Longines Ranking class with the 10-year-old gelding Belfast Z (Bamako de Muze x Dobel's Cento – B: J.G.J. Winkelmolen). They also managed to keep it clear in the jump-off and this performance resulted in a 6th place in the ranking.

The day before, the Swiss rider Yannick Jorand secured a top 5 ranking with the 10-year-old stallion l'Arc En Ciel Z (L'Arc de Triomphe x San Remo - B: Sarah Gospodnetic). During the 1.45m Longines Ranking class they managed to keep it clear in both the basic round and the jump-off with a 4th place as the final result.

Finally, during the opening day on Thursday there was also a victory for the Irish rider Harry Marshall with the 9-year-old mare Daylight VHS Z (Douglas VDL x Indorado – B: Verhagen Horse Service). They triumphed during the 1.40m class where they managed to keep it clear in both phases.