| Week three at the Sunshine Tour in Spain
Last week marked the final week of competition for Ciaran and his six horses at the show in Spain, held under beautiful weather conditions. On Tuesday, the 6-year-old Zados R opened the show and continued exactly where he had left off the week before. Once again, he delivered a clear and confident round in the Youngster class and finished in eleventh place out of 66 starters. He also stayed clear on both Wednesday and Thursday and placed in both classes. With two clear phases, he finished twelfth on Wednesday and eighth on Thursday. With these results, the Zinedream offspring completed his three weeks in Spain without a single fault in any of his classes.
On Thursday, Casalla Blue PS also collected another placing. In the 4* Tour over 1.50 m, the 10-year-old mare by Casallco x Chacco-Blue secured a placing with a clear round. Little Special in Red M also jumped clear over 1.30 m but narrowly missed a placing. Dynar also produced a lovely round without faults on Friday and was rewarded with eighth place over 1.45 m. In Sunday’s Grand Prix of the Medium Tour, Ciaran once again chose Dynar. Although the pair had one rail down in the course, they still managed to secure a placing in the 1.50 m class with the fastest time, bringing their three weeks in Spain to a close.
In the 4* Grand Prix over 1.55 m, the 10-year-old Casalla Blue PS was again at the start, just like the week before. The pair began the course confidently, and even the triple combination posed no problem for the mare by Casallco. However, the distance to the second-to-last fence was not ideal and a rail fell. They therefore narrowly missed qualifying for the jump-off, for which only six of the 49 starters were able to qualify in the challenging course. Thanks to their fast time, the pair from Riesenbeck still secured a placing.
At the same time, Philipp was competing at the 5* show in ’s-Hertogenbosch. On Friday, he placed eleventh with the 9-year-old Lady Concern du Rezidal after a clear round over 1.45 m. Also on Friday, Oreo D.R. brought home another placing in the 1.55 m class. The pair qualified for the jump-off with a clear round but had one rail down in the jump-off, narrowly missing a top placing. In the end, they finished eighth. In Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix, Philipp also started with the 12-year-old Oreo D.R. Unfortunately, they were unable to repeat their strong performance from Friday and had two rails down in the course.
Now we look ahead to the Late Entry show in Riesenbeck on Tuesday and Wednesday, before James and Philipp travel to Paris for the 5* show next weekend.
