Three BWP-bred three-year-old stallions were selected to participate in the championship: Pegase van’t Ruytershof (Comme Il Faut - Gianthina van’t Ruytershof x Cartani), bred by Stable ’t Ruytershof from BWP performance line 69; Prestige van het Kluizebos – a son of Halifax van het Kluizebos out of a full sister to Clinton from WBFSH-ROLEX award-winning breeder Stefaan Delabie; and Poker de Mariposa – a son of Nabab de Rêve bred by Koen De Brabander out of the international Grand Prix dam Ilena de Mariposa, BWP per- formance line 64). In the final reckoning, it was Pegase van’t Ruytershof who became the new BWP champion in the option showjumping.

It is no coincidence that Pegase’s breeder Bert Vanden- branden chose Comme Il Faut for Gianthina: “Comme Il Faut is a Grand Prix stallion. He has a unique pedigree, thanks to Cornet Obolensky as sire and Ratina Z as dam. Gianthina’s sire is Cartani, a son of Carthago out of Taggi. Ratina and Taggi were two of the best showjumping dams of the 1990s. I managed to get both dams in Pegase’s pedigree. That’s one of the reasons why I chose Comme Il Faut.”

The sport career of Pegase’s dam was shortlived: “She jumped for one year, at the age of five. After wards, her son Jilbert van’t Ruytershof was BWP approved, so we decided to use her exclusively as a broodmare”. Out of Gianthina, Vandenbranden has a full sister to Jilbert, as well as a full sister to Pegase. He has been breeding for 16 years, producing several out-standing international showjumpers, including Emerald, Diamanthina, Jilbert and Herald van’t Ruytershof. Pegase is also not his first approved stallion: “Until now, I’ve bred nine or 10 approved stallions” – out of around 10 foals annually. “In my breeding program I use Diamanthina’s dam line. I also co-own Ellabelle de Rie Z (Elvis ter Putte - Jeleena de Muze). We are also using a dam by Tangelo x Libero H x Grannus.”...

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