German rider Christian Ahlmann won the 1.45m CSI5* class in Mechelen today. The class is in honour of the late Léon Melchior, the founder of the legendary Zangersheide stud farm. What makes the win extra special for Ahlmann is that Léon Melchior is the father of Ahlmann's partner, Belgian Show jumper Judy Ann Melchior. The class was open to stallions only and Ahlmann chose to partner the 8 year old Zangershiede stallion Caribis Z (Caritano x Canabis Z). They won the class in true style after beating out the other 17 combinations in the jump-off. Dutch rider Harrie Smolders finished in second place with Emerald (Diamant de Semilly x Carthago), just over 0.4 of a second slower than Ahlmann. Italian rider Lorenzo de Luca claimed third spot with Balou de Coeur Joye (Balou de Rouet x Argentinus), while Joe Clee and Jur Vrieling took fourth and fifth place respectively. FULL RESULTS
