Calimero wins gold, Baccarat finishes 4th at National Championship
The Dutch national championships of 2017 brought Marc Houtzager and Sterrehof Stud great success. Marc won the first national titel of his career together with Sterrehof’s Calimero and became 4th with Sterrehof’s Baccarat. ‘I finally won the national title. Fantastic!’, says a thrilled Marc Houtzager afterwards. ‘I was already three times second so it was about time. This result means a lot to me. It was our weekend!’
Brilliant
The performance in Mierlo indeed was of a high caliber. After the first two days Marc was already in the lead with Calimero and on the third spot with Baccarat. On the decisive Sunday he finished the job fluently in the two remaining rounds, especially with Calimero. Marc: ‘The time penalty in the first round and jumping fault in the second with Baccarat were unnecessary, because he jumped great. Calimero was brilliant again. He didn’t knock a rail down in four days of jumping. I’m proud of him. He’s only ten years old and a real championship horse!
Fantastic horses
Marc hopes now to continue this success during the rest of the season so he can fulfill his goal. He says: ‘The plan is to go to the European Championship in Göteborg. How my agenda will be exactly for the coming period I don’t know yet. I’m going to Hagen and have a preference to start at the CHIO’s of La Baule, Rome and Aachen. My advantage now is that I can switch between Calimero and Baccarat, who can both do a Nation Cup. These two are fantastic horses, with a lot of blood and carefulness. For me they are both number one!