The large grass arena in Klein Flottbek holds a special place for Rolf-Göran Bengtsson – after all, the Swedish championship rider has enjoyed some of his greatest successes here. With Casall, for example. The pair won the Global Champions Tour leg in Hamburg twice. Most recently in 2017, just before Casall was retired. Since then, Bengtsson has been training and developing another Holsteiner Association stallion. He is not yet ready for the Global Champions Tour, but is well on the way to the top of international equestrian sport. We’re talking about Zuccero , the son of Zirocco Blue out of a Caretino dam (Hanno Köhncke, Badendorf). The pair have already secured several promising victories and placings up to a height of 1.50 metres. This was also the case this weekend at the German Show Jumping Derby in Hamburg. Three show jumping classes, four clear rounds and three placings against top-class competition – that was the tally for Rolf-Göran Bengtsson and Zuccero. “Zuccero jumped fantastically; he tackled all the classes with great consistency and confidence, whilst always remaining athletic and highly motivated. This weekend, he has once again shown what the future may hold,” his rider said happily afterwards. In the opening show jumping class, the pair finished twelfth and went one better with a fifth-place finish in Friday’s CSI4* event, before remaining clear of faults in both the first round and the jump-off of the final 1.50-metre class to secure fourth place.
Zuccero’s next competition will be the Global Champions Tour leg in Stockholm in three weeks’ time, where Rolf-Göran Bengtsson plans to compete with him in supporting classes.