Oliva Nova, Spain – October 05, 2025 – “Luck was on our side today,” Belgium’s Constant Van Paesschen (BEL) said after his 12-year-old mare Diaz du Thot (Ready Boy des Forets x Diams du Grasset) kicked off Autumn MET I 2025 with a win in Sunday’s CSI2* 1.45m CHG – Construcciones Hispano Germanas S.A – Grand Prix in Oliva Nova, Spain. “Diaz du Thot jumped super again. She is a horse you can really count on; she’s a trier and a fighter. I’ve had her since the end of her sixth year, and she has always been a winner,” Constant said.
Crossing the finish line in 43.33 seconds in a jump-off between eighteen horse-and-rider combinations, Van Paesschen and Diaz du Thot took the win ahead of Chad Fellows (GBR) and Continent 7 (Cordess 2 x Contendro I) in second in 46.35 seconds. While his father Stanny celebrated the British win at the Longines League of Nations™ Final in Barcelona, Constant could chime into the family-success with his victory in Oliva Nova. “It has been a great day for the family,” Constant said.
“The course was nice,” Constant detailed about the track set by Christian Wiegand (GER). “It’s always very difficult for a course designer to build, especially here, in a two-star – you can’t build too big, because you need to respect what’s written in the schedule, however, at the same timeyou have a lot of very good riders with very good horses on the start list. It is a tough job to build a two-star Grand Prix here, and I thought the course today was nice.”
“In the jump-off, I was in the middle of the pack, and I knew that I could catch the leading time,” he continued. “However, I also knew that there were some very quick riders coming after me as well, like Jérôme [Guery] and Julien [Epaillard]. I knew I was going to have to take risks. In the end, I was lucky; I could have had one down on the last fence.”
“I was off for the full months of May and June as well as a half of July,” Constant – who broke his foot in April – explained about the year he has had. “My horses have had a lot of time off this year.”
A Dutch trio completed the top five in Sunday’s Grand Prix that kicked off the Autumn tour at Centro Ecuestre Oliva Nova: Lars Kersten (NED) and Barny Blue 3 (Balou du Rouet x Chacco-Blue) placed third with a time of 46.53 seconds, while Hessel Hoekstra (NED) and Comthago VDL (Comme Il Faut 5 x Carthago Z) finished fourth in 47.31 seconds and Marc Houtzager (NED) aboard Mereusa (Comme Il Faut 5 x Toulon) fifth in 47.79 seconds.
The Autumn MET I continues next week and runs through to October 19, followed by Autumn MET II in November and Autumn MET III in December.
Final Results – €30,000 CHG – Construcciones Hispano Germanas Grand Prix CSI 2*
1) Constant Van Paesschen (BEL) & Diaz du Thot – 0 / 0 – 43.33
2) Chad Fellows (GBR) & Continent 7 – 0 / 0 – 46.35
3) Lars Kersten (NED) & Barny Blue 3 – 0 / 0 – 46.53
Source: Press Release from the Mediterranean Equestrian Tour
Photos: © MET / Hervé Bonnaud / http://www.1clicphoto.com
