The 4-year old Roman Empire and the 5-year old Banksy Coeur became the high scoring stallions of the stallion sport test which was held in Verden on 18 - 20 March 2024.
The Verden sport test featured a packed field, especially of 4-year olds, with plenty of glowing names.
4-YO: Roman Empire
No less than 23 4-year olds participated in the test, but four dropped out during the test, amongst them Gestut Scönweide's 1,250,000 euro costing Oldenburg licensing champion Bon Esprit. The owner issued a statement after the horse's withdrawal, saying the horse was too tense during the test and they did not want him to receive a low score. They will try again at a later point. Other drop-outs were Bon Bolero (by Bon Vivaldi), Global Dancer (by Global Player), and Vision Gold (by Viva Gold).
The shining star in his age group was the KWPN bred Roman Empire (by Romanov x Sir Sinclair x Cabochon), who scored the highest total of 8,62 points. He got 7.8 for walk, 8.8 for trot, 9 for canter, 8.8 for rideability and 8.6 for general impression.
The second best scoring colt was Paul Schockemöhle's Oldenburg bred Viva Romance PS (by Vivino x Sir Donnerhall x Don Schufro) with 7 for walk, 8.8 for trot, 8.7 for canter, 9.3 for rideability and 8.2 for general impression.
State Stud Celle's Hanoverian Barbarossa (by Bonds x For Romance) was third with 8,44 points. Valparaiso (by Viva Gold), who tested positive to medication at last year's approval, was now fourth with 8,22 points, while Vigos Gold (by Vitalis) got the fifth best score of 8,21 points.
5-YO: Banksy Coeur
In the 5-year old group there were 11 participants and all completed the three-day test. No less than 9 stallions scored a total of 8.0 or more, two had a 7 score.
The top scorer was Drube and Brunckhorst's Hanoverian stallion Banksy Coeur (by Bon Coeur x Londonderry) with a total of 8,70 points. He got 7.8 for walk, 9 for trot, 8.5 for canter, 9.2 for rideability and 8.8 for general impression.
Katrin Krüger's Oldenburg bred Jovianos (by Jovian x Rubinstein) was a close second with 8,67 in total. he got 7.5 for walk, 9 for trot, 8.8 for canter, 9.1 for rideability and 8.8 for general impression. Interestingly, the Hanoverian society rejected to approve Jovianos for Hanoverian breeding despite his score in the testiong.
The KWPN bred Ortisei (by For Finalx Chippendale) scored 8,47 points, while Celle and Neustadt/Dosse's state stud owned Brandenburg stallion Bloomingdale (by Belantis x Rubin Royal) got 8.43 points.
Complete results here.
Related Links
Bonhöffer and For Kingdom, High Scorers of the 2023 Verden Stallion Sport Test
For Kingdom and Ibiza Dream, High Scorers at the 2022 Stallion Sport Test in Verden
Fusionist and Escamillo, High Scorers of the 2020 Verden Stallion Sport Test