Edited press release from Zangersheide

On Friday, the Ratina Z Arena was the setting for the traditional 1.50m FEI Zangersheide Sires of the World for approved stallions in Lanaken, Belgium. Under a beaming sun and in front of well-filled stands, some of the world's best approved stallions gathered for this prestigious class during the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses 2024. 

After an opening class on Thursday, 50 horse-and-rider combinations came to the start on Friday, ready to compete over the tough 1.50m course designed by course designer Bernard Mathy and his team. Only six pairs managed to qualify for the jump-off. 

In a particularly exciting jump-off, the victory eventually went to Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi from the United Arab Emirates. With the 10-year-old SF stallion Enjoy de la Mure (Vigo Cece x Sable Rose, bred by Beatrice Drigeard Desgarnier), he appeared in the ring as the fourth rider and with a rapid finishing time of 41.07 seconds, managed to secure victory. Al Marzooqi was over the moon with his victory. “This was only his first show after the Olympics in Paris, but he feels better than ever," he said. "We bought him about a year ago with the plan to go to the Olympics and thanks also to the help of William Funnell, he has developed well over the past year. So I would like to thank all my team, because without them this would not have been possible.”

Al Marzooqi's round was just fast enough to keep Christian Ahlmann (GER) and Otterongo Alpha Z (Darco x Hedjaz, bred by Josef Poets) from the victory. Ahlmann had set the tone as the first starter with a clear round in 41.16 seconds with his 10-year-old stallion, but in the end the two had to settle for second place. “I am very happy with this second place today," Ahlmann said. "Otterongo has already had a good season and has only been jumping at this level for just over a year now. He is very careful and therefore always needs a few jumps to feel comfortable in the ring. You could clearly see that in the course, where I had some work in the beginning. In the jump-off it went a lot easier." 

The third place was claimed by Philip Rüping (GER) with the 13-year-old Oldenburg stallion Baloutaire PS (Balou du Rouet x Chacco Blue, bred by Paul Schockemöhle). Rüping, who already achieved a 6th place in the Sires of the World last year with the same stallion, entered the ring as the very last combination and clocked in 41.33 seconds. “This was a pretty tough class for my feeling because there were a lot of fences and also the time allowed was tight enough”, Rüping said. “I had my sights set a bit on victory because I know Baloutaire is a fast horse, but I didn't get the first distance both from fence 2 to 3 and from fence 3 to 4. As a result, I lost at least 1.5 seconds and so the victory was gone.”