Prague Playoffs Day 2: Casual DV Z & Katoulon Are the Real MVPs

The 2024 season champions Cannes Stars are out of GCL Super Cup contention. Eliminated when anchor Karin Eckermann fell on course.

Shanghai Swans met the same fate when Ben Maher parted ways with Dallas Vegas Batilly.

Thibault Philippaerts’s martingale broke midcourse, immediately followed by a rail. And more than half the 12-team field racked up cricket scores as they fought for a piece of the €2 Million in prize money on the table in the GCL Super Cup Semi Final.

In short: it was hard.

“This round is always a very, very difficult round,” reflected 2021 champion Olivier Philippaerts “It’s always been though. Every year we’ve come to Prague, this was the most difficult day.”

You wouldn’t know it watching Casual DV Z and Katoulon, though.

Of the four pairs that managed to chart a clear path around Friday’s challenging 1.60m course, the two 10-year-old bays were the only horses to jump double clear over the Thursday and Friday’s team events.

Casual DV Z (Cornet Obolensky x Cicero Z van Paemel), bred, developed and piloted by Pieter Devos, put a pair of duck eggs on the board for the home team, Prague Lions.

New partners Marlon Modolo Zanotelli and Katoulon (Toulon x Celano) also managed the feat for Basel Cosmopolitans. The gelding joined the Brazilian rider’s string in August and has only four rounds at the height prior to this week.

Both teams advance to the Super Cup Final. But it’s Valkenswaard United leading the charge. The brothers Weishaupt, Maximillian and Philipp, and Christian Kukuk secured the best score of the night, finishing on a team total of 8, and will return in pole position on Sunday.

Kukuk and Philipp were part of the 2023 GCL Super Cup winning team.

“2023 is behind us but I think for both Philipp and I, we want to have that feeling once again, I think that was one of the greatest days in our careers that we had here two years ago, so we are really looking forward to have the chance on Sunday to fight and have that feeling once again.”

Sunday will tell if they can keep the clears coming. The top six teams return for the GCL Super Cup Final.