Young talents shine in the Stal Hendrix competition

22 May 2026

The third leg of the Stal Hendrix Competition once again produced three new winners. In Sevenum, Win for Life J&B (s.Karan vd Heffinck Z) received the highest marks among the four-year-olds, Riekemieka B (s.Landino VDL) led a strong field of five-year-olds, and Oliva VDW Z (s.O’Neill van ’t Eigenlo) delivered the best performance among the six-year-olds.

Year after year, the Stal Hendrix Competition brings together the best young showjumping horses, and once again this season it enjoys strong participation and interest. Today, the young talents competed on grass footing for the first time. The four-year-olds were judged by German judges Achim Lennartz and Dieter Feltens.

Four-year-olds
Under Belgian rider Alexander Housen, Win for Life J&B (Karan vd Heffinck Z x Favorit Ask), bred by Bjorn Jordan and Jan Mees, earned the highest scores. He received an 8.4 for jumping and an 8.5 for rideability.  “Win for Life stands out because of his good canter and he showed a very beautiful round. He is very rideable, demonstrates carefulness, and jumps with very good technique,” said Achim. The winner of the first competition round, Sizora JB (Newmarket VM x Haarlem, bred by Jansen and Brand), finished second today under Ivo Steeghs with scores of 8.4 and 8.0, which also puts her in the lead of the intermediate standings. “This diligent mare jumps every time with plenty of power and a great deal of carefulness.” Third place went to Zyrano du Welle (Zinedream x Balou du Rouet, bred by Bo Wargh) under Lisa Guggenberger, who earned scores of 8.2 and 8.0. “This powerfully cantering stallion improved as he became more relaxed, and he jumps with an exceptionally good hind-leg technique.”

Strong competition
After finishing third last week in Asten, Riekemieka B (Landino VDL x Zirocco Blue VDL), bred by Jurjan Bloem, outperformed all competitors today under Johan Bergs. They relegated the KWPN-approved stallion Rising Aranix (Aganix du Seigneur x Echo van ’t Spieveld), bred by Rising Stud and already impressive in last year’s competition, to second place under Kristian Houwen. Following three strong performances, Rising Aranix is now in the lead in the intermediate standings. With another fast and clear round in the two-phase course, Duella Mood Z (Duel de HSP x Irco Miro, bred by John Driessen) claimed third place today in Sevenum under Britt Driessen. A nice detail is that the same rider finished second among the six-year-olds with Duella Mood Z’s full brother, Duel Mood Z, which also puts them in the lead of the intermediate standings. Today they only had to concede to Oliva VDW Z (O’Neill van ’t Eigenlo x Corrado I, bred by Benny Van de Walle) under Sofiia Taran. In this age category, Arriba Z (All Star x Marome NW, co-bred by Krijn de Groot) finished third under breeder Jil Buijze. Among the five-year-olds, 38 out of 66 combinations completed the course fault-free, while 26 out of 59 combinations stayed clear among the six-year-olds. The competition continues next Tuesday in Kessel at JPM International.

File photo Rising Aranix / Text Jenneke Smit