Delux van T&L contributes to bronze in Barcelona!
After Niels jumped last week with Scarlina de Tiji Z during the final for the 7-year-old horses at the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Lanaken, last week it was time to pack and leave again. In the Real Club de Polo of Barcelona, the final of the Nations Cup was on the program and Niels was part of the Belgian team with Delux van T&L.
A lot has been said and written about Delux in recent weeks, but Niels and Delux made it clear last weekend with some strong performances that they are completely back on track. During the first round on Friday they made an immediate impression and after a strong round they only got 4 penalty points charged for a fault on the open water. Yesterday afternoon it was time for the big final of the Nations Cup and here again they noted an impressive round. Niels and Delux floated over the fences with great ease and seemed to be heading for a flawless round, but unfortunately saw the very last pole roll out of the cups. A frontleg fault meant that Niels and Delux eventually had to leave the ring with four penalty points.
In addition to Niels and Delux, Nicola Philippaerts and Katanga van het Dingeshof had also collected four penalty points in the decisive round, so the Belgians had to chase the other teams halfway through the final. But both Jérôme Guery with Quel Homme de Hus and Gregory Wathelet with Nevados S managed to keep it clear and after the Olympic Games in Tokyo and the European Championship in Riesenbeck there was again bronze for our Belgian team.
In addition to Delux, Gancia de Muze also traveled to the Spanish metropolis for the other classes. Niels and Gancia already showed their noses for the first time on Friday with a clear round in the 1.45m opening class, but kept the best for Saturday during the 1.50m main class. They managed to ensure a clear round in the first round and thus easily joined the best 16 combinations that managed to qualify for the second and decisive round. Niels and Gancia then also jumped clear in the second round and with their finish time of 42.17 seconds they managed to take a magnificent fourth place.