By Jenneke Smit / KWPN
Top Irish rider Denis Lynch belongs to the absolute world top, and among his best horses can be counted the KWPN Cristello (Numero Uno, out of Volstelle keur sport-spr pref prest, by Voltaire, bred by Wilma Wigink-Markvoor). Cristello is one of the stallions with whom he will focus not only on top sport but also on breeding.
In 2019, Denis bought his second greatest asset for major work in Limburg – Cristello. “I have good contact with Leon Thijssen and when I heard that Kevin Jochems was leaving there, I carefully asked what the plans were with Cristello. I told Leon that I was looking for a new horse to take over from All Star and he let me try Cristello. He immediately gave me a very good feeling and he has never disappointed me. Cristello is extremely careful, has a lot of canter, power and a lot of guts.”
Olympic Games
The newly-minted duo won the 1m50 ‘Championat’ of Basel in January 2020, and last summer finished second in both the 1m50 and the 1m55/1m60 Grand Prix of St. Tropez, among other events. After that they were victorious in the 1m60 GP of the CSI5* St. Tropez, and at the end of November they finished third in the 1m50 GP of CSIO3* Vejer de la Frontera. “Cristello performs very consistently and that is why I have set my heart on participating in the Olympics with him. In addition, he can be very valuable for breeding, just as I have always thought of All Star. That is why I used this winter to freeze Cristello’s semen. We had him collected by Wim Housen, just over the Belgian border. The quality of the semen is very good, so I hope he will get good chances with the breeders.”
Breeding stallion
His former asset All Star 5 (Argentinus), with whom he won team gold at the European Championships in Gothenburg and participated in the World Cup finals four times, has been used for breeding for the first time after his sporting retirement in 2019. “All Star was focused completely on sport at first, and because he has proven himself so much and comes from a good lineage, I’m sure he can be valuable as a breeding stallion. It is the same with Cristello. I immediately bought a few foals from All Star's first year and I am very happy for the owner that they look so promising.”
High expectations
From the next breeding season, Denis Lynch himself will make several stallions available for breeding, for now only via frozen semen. “Breeding has always been my interest and I think I have a few stallions that are really interesting for breeders. I have really high expectations of Cristello. He is a big, long-lined Numero Uno son with a lot of canter, a top attitude, and a lot of fighting spirit. And he has a interesting pedigree as his mother has produced several international jumpers. I think he fits very well with the mares in the Netherlands, Ireland and Sweden. I really can't wait to see his first foals next year.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber
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