Edited press release from Zangersheide 

The tension was high in Friday's final of the Sires of the World in the Ratina Z arena at Zangersheide in Belgium. With no empty seat in the house at Domein Zangersheide, the huge crowd cheered on their favorites. With 50% of the riders in the jump-off representing Belgium the chances were good for a Belgian victory, but in the end the win went to French-bred, Selle Francais approved, Drako de Maugre (Kannan x Fusain du Defey*HN) and his German rider Patrick Stühlmeyer.

The Belgians however did make up the rest of the top five. With just 0,43 of a second more on the chronometer, Gudrun Pateet and AES-approved Sea Coast Enjoy Z (Emerald x Parco) finished in second place. The last combination in the ring kept it exciting to the end; Jens Vandenberk made a great effort with BWP-approved Faldiano (Heartbreaker x Jus de Pomme) to improve the time to beat but missed out by just less than a second (0,90) and placed third.

The difference in age was more remarkable between the number two and three. Sea Coast Enjoy Z is just starting his career as an eight-year-old, while Faldiano is not long from turning 18 and is still hitting high notes at the top level – with Saturday's third place and Friday's eight, Faldiano and Vandenberk were the best performing combination over two days.

The winner was also positive about Drako de Maugre's future, with the stallion being nine-year-old. With this performance his breeding career will also take a flight. “I’ve been riding this horse for a while now, but this is only our sixth competition together. I am confident he has more in store for us”, the German said about his winning mount.