Press release from the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour

The third and last week of Spring MET II 2020 is underway, with one of the highlights on the program being Wednesday’s Young Horse Finals presented by Kingsland. 

In the 1.15m final for 5-year-old horses, Pernille Tribler (DEN) made it a double – topping the class with two Danish bred horses. Tribler rode Zucchero (VDL Zirocco Blue x breeding unknown) to first and P Diddy (Party Dance x Jackson) to second. The Danish rider was by far the fastest in the class and was followed by Jack Stirling (GBR) on Feel The Wind Semilly (Kannan x Diamant de Semilly) in third – almost two seconds behind the winning time. 

New for the 2020 season, is the MET Young Horse Champions Trophy which is presented to the best young horse of each age group. Points were earned throughout the three weeks of competition during Spring MET II. In the 5-year-old category, Tribler’s Zucchero topped the overall standings after collecting 89 points.

In the 6-year-old final, which was set at 1.30m, 17 pairs out of the 57 that started in the first round jumped clear and moved on to the jump-off. Against the clock, Marlon Modolo Zanotelli (BRA) was in a league of his own when stopping the clock at 31.75 seconds aboard the Belgian bred Otello de Kalvarie (Gemini XX (Clone) x Wandor van de Mispelaere). A little over two seconds behind followed Thibault Philippaerts (BEL) on Gjamaika Song (Cristallo II x Campione VI), while third place went to Nicolas Delmotte (FRA) and Erostar de Luthiers (Reel Star des Luthier x Querlybet Hero). 

The MET Young Horse Champions Trophy in the 6-year-old category went to the Zangersheide bred gelding Sensei Z (Hunters Scendro x Indoctro) ridden by Axel Vandoorne (BEL), with a total of 79 points.

In the 7-year-old final, 63 pairs were lined up and 21 of them cleared the first round over a course set to 1.40m – joining the jump-off. It was a busy final for Nicolas Delmotte, who had no less than three horses in the jump-off and his beautiful riding aboard the French bred mare Denerys du Montceau (l'Arc de Triomphe*Bois Margot x Rox de La Touche) brought home the win. Denerys du Montceau also won the MET Young Horse Champions Trophy in this age category, after collecting a total of 70 points. Delmotte took full advantage as last to go, shaving off two seconds on the time to beat set by Lieven Devos (BEL) and E-Risingson Z (Elvis Ter Putte x Concorde). Giulia Martinengo Marquet (ITA) took the third place with Daytona Della Caccia (Diamant de Semilly x Caretino), 0.12 seconds behind Devos.

“Denerys du Montceau is a very good horse,” Delmotte commented after the final. “She is careful, clever and fast – I believe she has all the right qualities for the top sport. I have been riding her for about half a year now, and was lucky to have owners step in to keep her for me. My focus is to produce her in the very best way for the future.”

Delmotte believes the MET Young Horse Champions Trophy that was awarded to Denerys du Montceau is a great initiative. “It’s a super way of awarding consistency among the youngsters. Furthermore, it is also something special for the horse owners,” Delmotte said. 

It’s Delmotte’s first time at the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour, and the French rider took the trip after recommendations from his colleagues. “I heard many good things about the MET, but it’s even better than I expected,” he said. “It’s a great place for both the young horses and the more experienced ones. I am planning towards campaigning both Ilex VP and Urvoso du Roch for the Olympic Games, so I wanted to get them a good start outdoors early on in the season. I am really happy that I chose to come here to Oliva Nova with them,” Delmotte concluded. 

Spring MET II continues until Sunday 1st of March, concluding with a CSI3* Grand Prix.