Belgian riders dominate the opening day!
Today the second week of the Z-tour 2022 started in Lanaken. Again many participants found their way to the beautiful domain of the Melchior family. The first class at the Ratina Z arena started around 12 noon. In this CSI3* 1m40 class, no fewer than 105 participants competed in a two-phase special class. The first part started brilliantly as the Belgian Anthony Wellens took the win with his 10-year-old Zangersheide bred stallion Danger Civil vh Lindenhof Z. This Danger Civil vh Lindenhof Z was bred by Jean Pierre Bosch and is a son of Diamant De Semilly in combination with Silvio I. Wellens and Danger Civil vh Lindenhof Z finished the second phase in 28.87 seconds and managed to stay a good second ahead of the Dutch lady rider Kim Emmen. She finished with the 13-year-old gelding Carado 3 (Cornado NRW x Lupicor) in 29.93 seconds. Third place went to the French lady rider Laura Monier who brought the 12-year-old gelding Petter Patter (Phlox x Quinar Z) to the finish in 30.62 seconds.
The second part of this class also resulted in a Belgian victory. This time thanks to Yves Vanderhasselt and his 11-year-old Emerald daughter Lelielounka STW (ds. Toulon). They came to the finish in 28.91 seconds and thus stayed ahead of the Dutch lady riders Tani Joosten and Megan Laseur. Joosten took second place here with the 11-year-old gelding Galdal ME (by Zambesi) in 30.11 seconds while Megan Laseur was just a bit slower with the 9-year-old gelding Ironman (Dallas x Chellano) in 30.85 seconds.
Also at 12 noon the CSIU25 competition started with a 1m30 class at the Ramiro Z arena. In this speedclass, another Belgian victory was noted thanks to lady rider Rosalie Lambermont. She finished clear in 59.97 seconds with the 8-year-old mare Eliskell de Kergane (Kannan x Flipper D'elle) and managed to stay well ahead of the competition. Germany's Lennard Runge was second in 61.47 seconds with the 9-year-old gelding Murphy's Law 6 (Messenger x Candillo Z) while he also took third place with his 9-year-old mare Cadora 5 (Cador 5 x Acord II) in 62.42 seconds. .
After the CSIU25 class, a CSI3* 1m30 Table A against the clock was also on the program at the Ramiro Z arena. In this class no fewer than 95 combinations came to the start and again a Belgian combination managed to record the fastest finish time. This time, that honor went to Andres Vereecke. He and his mare 13-year-old mare Basha (Larimar x Coriano) set the winning time of 58.56 seconds. For the Dutch lady rider Kim Emmen there was a second place for the second time today. This time she was in the saddle of the 12-year-old mare Farah (Arezzo VDL x Concorde) with whom she managed to set a chrono time of 59.14 seconds. Finally, the podium was completed by the Swedish rider Linus Herzig. He finished in 61.64 seconds in the saddle of the 11-year-old gelding Greyson PH (Cardento x Nimmerdor) and was thus good for a third place.
