The KWPN-recognized stallion Zerlin M has made his mark again. Yesterday, he won, ridden by American rider Michael Hughes the three star Grand Prix of Bonheiden. At the major Belgium show , the son of Berlin was the only one to keep the clear in the difficult 1.50m Grand Prix.

41.24 seconds was the time that Michael Hughes and Zerlin M (Berlin out of  Tatjana Bo ster by Concorde, breeder A. de Jong from Wouwse Plantage) took for the jump-off. His only competitor, Belgian rider Jeroen Appelen had four penalty points just before. German rider Sven Fehl and Deep Blue Bridge S (Zirocco Blue VDL out of Royal Bridge stb by Ahorn, breeder J.C. Slob from Eemshaven) finished in a lovely seventh place in this Grand Prix. Earlier in the week they took the win in a 1,50m Longines-ranking class.

First Grand Prix-win

This was the first Grand Prix win at international level for Zerlin M. With Brasilian rider Marlon Zanotelli Zerlin won all the time at national shows, but now, ridden by Michael Hughes his first Grand Prix-win has become a fact. In 2015 Zerlin received recognition for KWPN breeding after he had so much success at the highest level with Zonatelli. Afer that he was injured for quite some time but since last October he was seen at the international shows again. Since Michael Hughes took over the reins in February, the results got better over time and Zerlin’s career took off for good. Zerlin was produced by jos Lansink and this win is a nice first Grand Prix title for this talented horse-rider combination.

 

PW/YBF for KWPN