Piet Raijmakers Jr. and Leo Büscher win opening classes
During the opening day of our Z-Tour 2022 yesterday afternoon, not only the young horses appeared in the ring, also the riders and lady riders of the CSI2* competition and of the CSIU25 competition were allowed to make their first appearance.
The opening class for the CSI2* competition took place at the centrally located Ratina Z Arena and ran over a height of 1.30m. It immediately became a well-filled class, because no fewer than 108 combinations appeared in the ring in which course designer Bernard Mathy and his team had built a course in a two phases special format. It was the Dutch rider Piet Raijmakers Jr. who managed to write this opening column to his list of honors. With the 10-year-old gelding Van Schijndel's Hanibal (Van Schijndel's Rascin x Indoctro) he finished in the second phase in 31.95 seconds, earning him more than half a second ahead of the competition.
Second place went to Swedish lady rider Sofia Westborg. She was sitting in the saddle of the 8-year-old mare Cara 199 (Chap II x Canterbury) with whom she managed to set a time of 32.60 seconds in the second phase. Westborg did with that performance just a little faster than the Belgian lady rider Elisa Strubbe. She completed the podium in third place with the 12-year-old mare Fantasy van de Windeweg (Numero Uno) after a finish time of 32.63 seconds.
CSIU25 competition
Also for the riders and lady riders of the CSIU25 competition the opening class was jumped over a height of 1.30m and for them a speed class was scheduled at the Almé Z Arena. In this class it was the German rider Leo Büscher who became the winner with the 11-year-old mare Nareve Esc (Nairobi x Nabab de Rêve). Büscher stopped the clock in 58.74 seconds and was the only one to stay under 60 seconds.
The Swiss rider Philip Svitzer followed in second place with the 12-year-old mare Alida Nike (Ustinov x N-Aldato). Svitzer finished in 62.38 seconds and therefore had to clearly recognize his multiple in the German rider. Finally, Büscher's compatriot Vivien Landfort was good for third place in the ranking. She set a time of 63.47 seconds with the 9-year-old gelding Camillo du Perchet (Copain du Perchet x Dannyboy).
