Gilles Thomas and Lavanoche T&L Z win the second qualifier for the 7-year-olds

Just like yesterday's first qualifier, today also the second qualifier for the 7-year-old horses took place at the centrally located Ratina Z Arena. Unlike yesterday, today it was a class against the clock and a total of 195 combinations made their appearance on the course designed by coursedesigner Bernard Mathy and his team.

The victory went to the Belgian rider Gilles Thomas and the Zangersheide mare Lavanoche T&L Z, a daughter of Lavallino Ter Klomp and Bentley van de Heffinck, who was bred by Guy Vandeven. After a clear round, Thomas and Lavanoche T&L Z managed to stop the clock in 66.12 seconds, giving them just under half a second ahead of the competition.

The Irish rider Michael Duffy followed after Thomas in 2nd place with the KWPN stallion Budweiser, a son of Berlin and Materhorn who was bred by G.W.F. Woudenberg and a half-sister of the gelding Exclusive (Canturano), who jumps at 1.45m level with the Italian lady rider Alessia Marioni. Duffy and Budweiser also secured a flawless performance and crossed the line in 66.52 seconds.

3rd place went to the Dutch rider Hendrik-Jan Schuttert with the Zangersheide mare High Energie VK Z, who was bred by Stoeterij van Kleef. High Energie VK Z is a daughter of Heineken VK VDL in combination with Toulon and comes from the same dam as the GP horses Hollywood VK (Berlin) and Just Special (Falaise de Muze), who we know from under the saddle of Doron Kuipers and Bryan Balsiger. Schuttert and High Energie VK Z managed to reach the finish in 67.12 seconds and so completed the podium.