Edited press release from Zangersheide

Under a radiant sun and in front of packed stands, the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses 2023 concluded on Sunday at Domein Zangersheide in Lanaken, Belgium. As per tradition, the 5-year-old horses were the first to enter the ring on this 'Super Sunday' and the Irish riders once again lived up to their reputation by taking care of the entire podium.

Course designer Bernard Mathy and his team had provided a track consisting of 13 obstacles with 16 jumps for this first final of the day, in which the obstacles were at a maximum height of 1.30m. From the 39 combinations that managed to qualify for this final, 11 cleared the first round and secured a place in the jump-off.

Michael Pender (IRL) took the victory with the Irish-bred gelding HHS Ocala – a son of Urano de Cartigny x Wandor van de Mispelaere bred by Bravo Hughes LTD. Pender and HHS Ocala started as the fourth combination and with a finishing time of 37.22 seconds, Pender secured his first world title after having already won silver twice and bronze three times in the past.

“In the past I was very close to it a few times, but I was always just not fast enough," Pender said. "I’m very happy that everything came together today. I would like to thank my entire team who helped me to make this possible. HHS Ocala is a very careful and competitive horse and I think he is really a horse for the future.”

The other podium places also turned green/white/orange during this final for the 5-year-old horses. The silver went to Niamh McEvoy and the Irish-bred stallion Boleybawn Alvaro – a son of Dominator 2000 Z x Crown Z bred by Ronan Rothwell. McEvoy and Boleybawn Alvaro entered the ring two combinations after Pender and HHS Ocala, but fell exactly half a second short of the world title with a time of 37.72 seconds.

After winning the final for the 5-year-olds last year, Gerard O'Neill was good for bronze this time around with the Irish-bred gelding Ballyshan B F Super Hero, a son of Celtic Hero B Z x Lux ​​Z bred by Gary Doherty. 

The Belgian rider Walter Lelie with the Zangersheide gelding Keep The Music Z (Kannan x Emerald van 't Ruytershof, bred by Walter Lelie) and the Portuguese rider Bernardo Ladeira with the KWPN mare Noblesse (Falaise de Muze x Corland VDL, bred by M. Hageman) completed the top five of the final for 5-year-olds. 

Exactly four years after becoming world champion for 6-year-olds with Chao Lee, German rider Katrin Eckermann added another world title to her list of achievements this afternoon. In the final for the 6-year-old horses, Eckermann jumped to victory after a particularly exciting jump-off with the Westphalian gelding Cascajall with whom she also won the first qualifier on Thursday.

A total of 40 combinations had managed to qualify for this final and ten managed to deliver clears in the first round and secured a place in the jump-off. Katrin Eckermann and the Westphalian gelding Cascajall – a son of Casallco x Comme Il Faut bred in Germany by Alfons Baumann – entered the ring as the penultimate combination and outclassed the competition with a convincing finishing time of 34.06 seconds.

“Both Cascajall and Viva Vly [another horse that Eckermann rode in the final] came to my stable in June," Eckermann said afterwards. "Before that, it was my father who did all the preparatory work. After that it all went quickly, but both horses have a lot of quality. Due to the busy schedule of international shows, I only had a few days to prepare for this world championship last week. I would therefore like to thank my entire team at home.”

With their performance, Eckermann and Cascajall pushed Ireland's Leah Stack and her Irish-bred mare Laurina down to the second place. Laurina is bred by Noel Cawley and is a daughter of Stakkato Gold out of the Cruising-mare Rincarina, who jumped at 1.55m level under the saddle of Greg Patrick Broderick. Stack and Laurina had taken the lead as the sixth combination at start with a clear round in 35.75 seconds, but had to settle for silver. The bronze medal among the 6-year-old horses went to Dutch rider Jelmer Hoekstra and the Zangersheide gelding Maddox vh Haringvliet Z – a son of Monte Bellini x Ogano Sitte bred by A. Hoekstra. 

Germany's Alexander Uekermann and the KWP gelding IB Easy (Emerald van 't Ruytershof x Dallas, bred by E. Kuijer) finished fourth, followed by Ireland's Niamh McEvoy and the Irish-bred mare BP Tiny Dancer (Plot Blue x Concorde, bred by GBBS Int LTD) in fifth.

The FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses 2023 concluded with a thrilling final for the 7-year-old horses. In the end it was Ireland's Harry Allen and the mare Kumina Della Caccia who managed to secure another Irish world title.

Eleven combinations managed to qualify for the jump-off, where Harry Allen and the Italian-bred mare Kumina Della Caccia – a daughter of Kannan x Toulon bred by Coop. Soc. Agr. La Caccia-Onlus –rushed to the finish line in 35.30 seconds. With this performance, Harry wrote a world title on his list of honors ten years after his older brother Bertram became world champion in the same age category. 

“Kumina Della Caccia is a fantastic horse and I even think she’s the best 7-year-old horse I have ever ridden," Allen said. "Everywhere we go she just jumps fantastic and actually a course with 4 penalties is a bad result for her. We also had a strong season with a victory during the final class in Bratislava and she also jumped two fantastic rounds in Aachen. We already sold her at our Aloga Auction last year, but we agreed that I could continue to ride her for a while until she’s eight next year. Then we will make a new plan for her.”

The silver in this final went to German rider Philip Rüping with the Oldenburg mare Casanina PS, a daughter of Casallco x Chacco-Blue bred by Paul Schockemöhle. The bronze went to Dutch rider Renee de Weert and the KWPN mare Labantrix – a daughter of Eldorado van de Zeshoek x Abantos, bred by Stal van den Broek. Belgium's Virginie Thonon and the Zangersheide mare Scala du Piedroux Z (Silver 2 de Virton x Crown Z, bred by Claudy Noirot) and Dutch rider Gerben Morsink with the Zangersheide mare Calida Z (Cornet Obolensky x Carthago Z, bred by L.L. De Lutte) finished fourth and fifth respectively.