The youngsters concluded their jumping at the 2016 Spring MET II in Oliva today, in the finals for 5, 6 and 7-year-old horses presented by Emiralia Horse Corp.

The 5-year-old final was dominated by Ireland’s Ivan Dalton and his horses. The Irish rider won the class on Barynia Jo (Kashmir Van't Schuttershof x Jalisco) and ended second on Lady In Black (Clinton I x Contender) with 0.10 seconds in between the two in the jump-off. Barynia Jo is one of the youngsters that really seems to like it in Oliva; the talented French bred mare has already won two classes at the 2016 Spring MET II. Third place went to Swiss rider Anthony Bourquard on Casper vd Rode Poelhoeve (Casall x Quinar) who finished 0.66 seconds behind the winning time in this 1.20 competition that saw six combinations going double clear.
 
In the 6-year-old final, it was again France’s Harold Boisset that reigned supreme – this time riding Katinka vh Valenberghof (Corland x Montender) to victory over the 1.30 track. The French rider has been on a tremendous run of form during the 2016 Spring MET, showing clear-round-consistency with his young horses as well as the more experienced ones. His winning mare Katinka vh Valenberghof has been in the top five in her classes ten times during the 2016 Spring MET, jumping one clear round after another. The pair also won Wednesday’s 6-year-old-class, and finished third in Tuesday’s class.
 
“I have had Katinka vh Valenberghof since she was a 4-year-old,” explained the French rider after his win. “Katinka vh Valenberghof is a naturally fast horse, and it is not an option to slow her down. I would say she is a real warrior in the ring.”
 
“I really like it here in Oliva,” smiled the frequent MET-visitor after another win. “To start off the season with such good facilities is excellent for both the horses and myself. The infrastructure is great here, the rings are of a high standard with quality footing and the course-building is very good. This year there are some world-class riders here such as Scott Brash and Steve Guerdat, and it is such motivation to be able to see them ride and compete against them – it is not something I get the chance to do that often,” continued the 28-year-old that is based in Montepellier, France.
 
Boisset’s well-jumping and competitive horses have not gone unnoticed, and the tour has turned out to be good both sport wise and commercially for the French rider. Today Boisset’s former winning partner Katinka van de Meyhoeve, a 6-year-old Kashmir van’t Schuttershof-daughter, ended fifth with Sweden’s Petronella Andersson in the saddle. “Katinka van de Meyhoeve has been sold to Stephex Stables,” explained Harold about the change of rider on the talented mare that now will develop further at Stephan Conter’s stables in Belgium.
 
Irish riders filled up the two last podium places in the 6-year-old final, as Roger McCrea on the Diamant de Semilly-stallion Davinci van de Bosrand Z came in 0.59 seconds behind Boisset in the 18-horse-and-rider jump-off with Clem McMahon on the Pacino-daughter Hilton Alibi following in third.
 
The 7-year-old final went over a 1.40 track, and it was Great Britain’s Louise Pavitt on Jaffar de Bourguignon (Lord Z x Darco) that tackled the challenges best. The gelding has not touched a pole during the 2016 Spring MET II, and was also runner-up in Tuesday’s 7-year-old-class. Today, Jaffar de Bourguignon jumped clear again and was almost a second faster in the jump-off than Viceversa de la Roque (Kannan x Diamant de Semilly) ridden by France’s David Jobertie. Belgium’s Constant van Paesschen and Duanda of the Lowlands Z – another Diamant de Semilly-offspring doing well at the 2016 Spring MET – finished third a little over a second behind the winner after a jump-off that counted 23 horses and riders.

Source: Press release from 2016 Spring MET // Picture © Hervé Bonnaud / www.1clicphoto.com.