The future belongs to the young, a premise which delivered a very exciting Isah Cup championship for four-year-olds yesterday. With the most points, the talented Catoki son Gringo R convincingly captured the championship under catch-rider Zoï Snels. Martine van den Eijnden secured second place with Gaucho (s.Verdi).

A field of 31 four-year-olds competed in the final, in addition to 12 hors concours combinations. Under Rob Heijligers, the talented Sandro Boy son Genevé E.B. (out of Cintana E.B. elite IBOP-jump s.Corrado I, breeders: G. and L.F.O. ter Harmsel-Zanderink of Enter), accumulated the most points in the semi-final; however, his somewhat inconsistent performance in the final resulted in an 8.5 and an 8.3. The previously selected stallion Gringo R (Catoki out of D.Zarah R 7 ster prok EPTM-jump s.Tolan R, breeder: Stal Roelofs), registered to Willem Greve and Teus van den Brink, impressed the most. Under Zoï Snels, the top talent showcased an outstanding canter, reflexes, body use, and scope.

Judges Henk van den Broek and Gerd Sosath awarded Gringo R a 9.4 for jumping and a 9 for rideability, making him the undisputed winner. Afterwards, he was selected again for the performance test. Gaucho (Verdi out of Ranimora sport-jump s.Animo, breeder: M.G.A. Aarts of Sint-Oedenrode), registered to Peter van den Eijnden of Lepelstraat, also impressed the jury. Martine van den Eijnden rode the talented Verdi son very well, who made a very good impression with his scope, canter, and body use. In the final, he earned a 9.2 for jumping and an 8.8 for rideability. Third place was for the athletic Girocco-D (2nd round view., Zirocco Blue VDL out of Cindoctro-D stb EPTM-jump s.Indoctro, breeder: K. Duursma of Schoonebeek) under Nicole Botma. This gelding impressed the jury as well and scored an 8.8 for jumping and an 8.4 for rideability.