The 2016 Spring MET III continued this week, and entered its second week of competition. As always, the week kicked off with three days of competition for the young horses – that are now given a few days rest before heading into the last week of the 2016 Spring MET III which includes the 7-,6- and 5-year-old horses’ final on Thursday 31st of March. This week’s classes for the 7-year-old horses were dominated by France’s Guillaume Foutrier. Aboard his talented horses Chief Tibri Z (Corland x Berlin) and Vitalia d’Ash (Cicero Z x Ou Vas Tu III), Foutrier scored a hat-trick – winning all three 7-year-old classes at the second week of the 2016 Spring MET III. Today the win came on the Zangersheide-bred gelding Chief Tibri Z, finishing on a time of 41.12 seconds in the jump-off. Almost two seconds behind was runner-up Katrin Eckermann from Germany, aboard Christian Glanemann’s Hardwell (Harley VDL x Naturel) – who stopped the clock on 43.10 seconds. The third place fell into Guillaume Foutrier’s hands too, this time riding Vitalia d’Ash, a Selle Français bred mare by the famous Cicero Z. Foutrier and Vitalia d’Ash finished in 43.53 seconds. “These are horses that I believe in for the future, and I hope I will be able to keep them for a long time,” said Foutrier about Chief Tibri Z and Vitalia d’Ash. “We were also here at the 2016 Spring MET I in January, and came here for the past four years – it’s a bit like our second home." “We try to combine training with being competitive while here with our horses,” Foutrier continued. “Until now we have mostly been trading our horses, but at this stage I would like to keep some – like these two 7-year-olds – for the sport.” Katrin Eckermann has taken both young and new horses for her first time at MET Oliva and immediately had a good performance on Hardwell. “Today the 7-year-old class was not too big, but it was very good for the youngsters. And that is why I am here, to build up my young and new horses. Hardwell is a very good horse. He is really careful, and always wants to go. He is a little bit hot, but that also makes him competitive,” Katrin explained. This might be Katrin’s first time at MET Oliva, but nevertheless she is already thinking about coming back next year. “I am really happy to be here and I think we will be here again next year!” In this week’s classes for the 6-year-olds it was Irish domination again, like many times before during the 2016 Spring MET. However, Germany’s Markus Kölz took home the victory in today’s class – but the Irish riders nevertheless turned out to be a dominating force. Clem McMahon, Jonathan Gordon and Cameron Hanley settled for second, third and fourth position respectively. Markus Kölz took the victory on Conchita, a daughter of the Dobel’s Cento-son Chintan out of a dam by the Oldenburg bred stallion Il Capriccio. Clem McMahon settled for runner-up position with Hilton Alibi, who is – like most of McMahon’s horses in Oliva – sired by the late Pacino. The Irish talent Jonathan Gordon – just graduated from the Rolex Young Riders Academy – took the third spot on Toulon-son PSG Final. Cameron Hanley and the Dutch bred Lexicon 5 (Lexicon x Roll Royce) finished fourth. Dutch rider Ivo Biessen riding Firefly H, a daughter of Douglas, won both 6-year-old classes on Tuesday and Wednesday after great performances over the 1.30 tracks. The 5-year-olds ended up with a different winner every day: On Thursday Calirado (Calido I) won with USA’s Cynthia Hankins in the saddle, on Wednesday Ukraine’s Oleg Krasyuk went to the top with Ping Pong (Pan Am VDL) and on Tuesday it was Twinning Hill (Zambesi) with Great Britain’s Carmen Edwards that were the best.
The 2016 Spring MET III continued this week, and entered its second week of competition. As always, the week kicked off with three days of competition for the young horses – that are now given a few days rest before heading into the last week of the 2016 Spring MET III which includes the 7-,6- and 5-year-old horses’ final on Thursday 31st of March. This week’s classes for the 7-year-old horses were dominated by France’s Guillaume Foutrier. Aboard his talented horses Chief Tibri Z (Corland x Berlin) and Vitalia d’Ash (Cicero Z x Ou Vas Tu III), Foutrier scored a hat-trick – winning all three 7-year-old classes at the second week of the 2016 Spring MET III. Today the win came on the Zangersheide-bred gelding Chief Tibri Z, finishing on a time of 41.12 seconds in the jump-off. Almost two seconds behind was runner-up Katrin Eckermann from Germany, aboard Christian Glanemann’s Hardwell (Harley VDL x Naturel) – who stopped the clock on 43.10 seconds. The third place fell into Guillaume Foutrier’s hands too, this time riding Vitalia d’Ash, a Selle Français bred mare by the famous Cicero Z. Foutrier and Vitalia d’Ash finished in 43.53 seconds. “These are horses that I believe in for the future, and I hope I will be able to keep them for a long time,” said Foutrier about Chief Tibri Z and Vitalia d’Ash. “We were also here at the 2016 Spring MET I in January, and came here for the past four years – it’s a bit like our second home." “We try to combine training with being competitive while here with our horses,” Foutrier continued. “Until now we have mostly been trading our horses, but at this stage I would like to keep some – like these two 7-year-olds – for the sport.” Katrin Eckermann has taken both young and new horses for her first time at MET Oliva and immediately had a good performance on Hardwell. “Today the 7-year-old class was not too big, but it was very good for the youngsters. And that is why I am here, to build up my young and new horses. Hardwell is a very good horse. He is really careful, and always wants to go. He is a little bit hot, but that also makes him competitive,” Katrin explained. This might be Katrin’s first time at MET Oliva, but nevertheless she is already thinking about coming back next year. “I am really happy to be here and I think we will be here again next year!” In this week’s classes for the 6-year-olds it was Irish domination again, like many times before during the 2016 Spring MET. However, Germany’s Markus Kölz took home the victory in today’s class – but the Irish riders nevertheless turned out to be a dominating force. Clem McMahon, Jonathan Gordon and Cameron Hanley settled for second, third and fourth position respectively. Markus Kölz took the victory on Conchita, a daughter of the Dobel’s Cento-son Chintan out of a dam by the Oldenburg bred stallion Il Capriccio. Clem McMahon settled for runner-up position with Hilton Alibi, who is – like most of McMahon’s horses in Oliva – sired by the late Pacino. The Irish talent Jonathan Gordon – just graduated from the Rolex Young Riders Academy – took the third spot on Toulon-son PSG Final. Cameron Hanley and the Dutch bred Lexicon 5 (Lexicon x Roll Royce) finished fourth. Dutch rider Ivo Biessen riding Firefly H, a daughter of Douglas, won both 6-year-old classes on Tuesday and Wednesday after great performances over the 1.30 tracks. The 5-year-olds ended up with a different winner every day: On Thursday Calirado (Calido I) won with USA’s Cynthia Hankins in the saddle, on Wednesday Ukraine’s Oleg Krasyuk went to the top with Ping Pong (Pan Am VDL) and on Tuesday it was Twinning Hill (Zambesi) with Great Britain’s Carmen Edwards that were the best.