The studbook for purebred Spanish horses, ANCCE, has awarded 2 further stallions “elite” status taking the total number of elite graded PRE horses to six.
Cacique IX, bred by Retortillo SA and owned by Pepe Anton Equine Reproduction Centre, and Kabileño VIII, bred by Yeguada Marin Garcia and owned by Rancho El Marengo, are the latest horses to be awarded the prestigious accolade by ANCCE.
In order to achieve such status, the studbook rules state that potential elite candidates must be “7 years of age and older, which have achieved the category of Improver Breeding Stock for Morphology for Dressage and for Dressage. In addition, they must fulfil the conformation, reproductive and health requirements established by the Breeder Association, after undergoing a radiological study to rule out diseases such as osteochondrosis and reproductive organs screened to rule out reproductive abnormalities.”
Both stallions have earned their new ranking partly by demonstrating the worth of their offspring.
Cacique IX, by Ermitaño III out of Regenta XV, is perhaps most well known as the sire of the famous “black pearl”, SICAB world dressage champion Poeta de Susaeta (out of Editora XIV, bred by Yeguada Susaeta). Poeta was undoubtedly one of the most famous young Spanish dressage horses in recent years, teamed with his rider Guillermo Garcia Ayala, the combination gained scores in excess of 80% to be crowned SICAB 4yo world champion in 2016 and 5yo world champion in 2017. The pair earned international recognition on their selection for Spain to compete at the FEI WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championships in 2017 and 2018 successively. Cacique IX has also sired various other successful morphology and dressage horses, with his popularity on the rise with breeders following the positive results of Poeta.
The second newly awarded stallion Kabileño VIII, by Pampero VII out of Kabila X, has demonstrated his high heritability in terms of dressage talent with his trio of champion daughters: Joya FS, Jara FS and Luz FS.
All three mares descend from the distinguished Avila studfarm, Yeguada Arroyomonte, who have been named as best dressage breeders in Spain 4 years out of 5 since 2015.
Joya FS, out of Coral XXV, has demonstrated that PRE mares are just as competitive as their male counterparts having achieved over 71% in the Grand Prix class at SICAB 2019 with her rider Alberto Garcia-Briñon Martin, a fraction behind the overall winners Napoleon Candau and Claudio Castilla Ruiz. Jara FS, out of Bolera LXVI, has demonstrated consistent performance with her rider Alberto Garcia Martin, having never scored less than 70.750% since her first outing as a 4yo. The pair’s career highlight include 5th place at SICAB 2017 in the 7yo section as well as the title of best movements in Spain at SICAB 2014. The mare has gone on to produce 6 foals over 3 breeding seasons for her owners since her last competitive outing in 2017. Finally Luz FS, out of Serena XIII, has followed in the footsteps of her stable mates having secured 2nd place in the 7yo class at SICAB 2019 at the reins of Marco Garcia Joubert with an overall score of 72.222%.
The two stallions join the likes of Ermitaño III, Impaciente II, Evento and Utrerano VII to gain the highest merit achievable in the Spanish studbook.
(c) Text by Yasmin Jaouane. Not to be reproduced without prior permission.