A striking role in the prestigious Rolex Grand Slam of Aachen for offspring of our Preferent stallion Baltic with two offspring finishing in the top 4. McLain Ward finished in a fantastic second place with Ilex (Baltic x Chin Chin), the combination jumped both rounds and the jump-off clear. Ilex was bred by G. Maris from Berg en Dal.
We sold the gelding at the age of 6 to his current owner Bonne Chance farm. We owned Ilex together at the time with Stal Marcel de Boer, who also took care of Ilex's training and education. A nice detail is that ilex became regional champion in the 1.20m class with our colleague Alex Chitty.
The always successful Leone Jei (Baltic x Corland, breeder of the late Gijs van Mersbergen) finished in 4th place with Martin Fuchs. Previously, Leone Jei once won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva and Spruce Meadows.

Ilex and Leone Jei have also both been selected to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris.

There were also striking results for descendants of Zirocco Blue and Hardrock in Aachen.
8-year-old Levi Noesar (Zirocco Blue x Baloubet du Rouet) and Richard Vogel won the final of the Youngster Cup in Aachen. The son of Zirocco Blue, bred by Jur Vrieling, jumped clear for three rounds in Aachen. Also notable in this Youngster Cup was Steely Dan (Hardrock x Cardento). This breeding product of Gert Wauters and van Hoydonck finished in a nice 5th place with Henrik von Eckermann. Steely Dan also jumped clear in all three rounds.