Olivier Philippaerts will keep on riding Cabrio van de Heffinck. Photo (c) Jannicke Naustdal.
As the HOPA Online Auction came to an end yesterday, it was announced that Cabrio van de Heffinck (Cassini I x Calato) willl stay in Belgian hands. The stallion's current rider Olivier Philippaerts will continue to compete him also in the future. It is a Belgian investor that has bought Cabrio van de Heffinck, but the identity remains unknown as he has asked for discretion in this regard.
In a press release from the HOPA Online Auction, Ludo Philippaerts comments; "It was the first time we even discussed selling Cabrio van de Heffinck. When Kevin Roossens visited me at Zangersheide and brought it up, I discussed it with Hubert Haemerlinck (co-owner of Cabrio van de Heffinck) and we almost immediately agreed. I wanted to try this adventure... Of course, Cabrio van de Heffinck is one of our top horses, but we didn't really want to see him go, as my son Olivier already confided during the shooting of the promotion video... He hoped to be able to continue riding him. Nevertheless, I never suspected so much attention for an online initiative. Everywhere I went, anywhere in the world, people asked me how the auction progressed. Quite sceptically sometimes. However, today we can say that HOPA did it: Cabrio van de Heffinck is partly sold ánd Olivier can continue riding him until the Olympic Games of 2016. What a fantastic result!"
Source: Press release from the HOPA Online Auction