It has been 18 years since Diarado was crowned the undisputed Holsteiner champion stallion. Now his son Dark Zuccero has followed his lead, as the seal brown left the Fritz-Thiedemann-indoor arena as the shining winner.

The Holsteiner Verband stallion keeping GmbH had purchased Dark Zuccero as a foal from Hanno Köhncke in Badendorf. “I’m over the moon and totally delighted that he will remain in the Holsteiner breeding programme”, said a visibly emotional Hanno Köhncke. “I hope he will follow in the footsteps of his big brother“- who is none other than team European champion Zuccero HV. Produced by Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE), the Holsteiner is now successfully shown at international level by Maximilian Weishaupt.
These outstanding results are rooted in mare family 4539, which has been successfully bred by the Köhncke family for generations now. “What a horse! Exquisite dark coat, correct conformation, outstanding jumping ability, and, of course excellent breeding“, were the words breed director Stephan Haarhoff used to describe Dark Zuccero.

Reserve Champion Stallions from Dithmarschen and Baden Wurttemberg
Christelio by Christian-Casall, presented by the Witt family of Wellinghusen became first reserve champion. The grey, a representative of Holsteiner mare family 2067, was described by Stephan Haarhoff as follows: “A horse with excellent type and very good make and shape, and his foundation leaves nothing to be desired. And he also did a totally splendid jump.“

Hello Sam by Halifax van het Kluizebos-Livello was named second reserve champion by the grading commission, consisting of Deike Ahsbahs, Lars Nieberg, Horst-Klaus Heleine and Matthias Wittke, besides the breed director. The long journey from Ellwangen was well worth it for Klaus-Philipp Eichert, as Stephan Haarhoff described the stallion from mare family 1298 as “an outstanding athlete with boundless ability and super quality”.

Five other stallions have been awarded premium status:

·       C’est Pari by Carantas-Almoretto (Karen Kappel, DEN-Haderslev), mare family 95

·       Cash de Vigo by Cascadello I-Vigo D’Arsouilles (Hans-Hermann Gempf, Stelle), mare family 242

·       Coryn by Copino VA-For Pleasure (Manfred von Allwörden, Grönwohld), mare family 7709

·       Dalton by Darcosall de Revel-Castelan I (Silke Zuba, Wesselburen), mare family 18A2

·       Valino B by Vigado-Chicago (Hermann Blohm, Hodorf), mare family 3697