Capital Utessa was foaled in 2005 and has the production record of a true foundation mare. She has bred Capital Indianapolis and Capital Rouge, and her wider family is exceptional: her dam Vanessa de BD is the dam of Helderfontein Ecstasy (1.40m) and Branic Bullet Proof (1.30m), while her granddam Germania IV produced Valentino DDH (1.45m). This is a damline that has consistently thrown open showjumpers, and Corrado I behind Germania IV is one of the great Holsteiner jumping sires, a stallion whose daughters are sought after precisely because they breed on.

Her sire, Capital Ulior van het Wuitenshof, adds refinement and rideability, qualities that show clearly in the mares he has left behind him, and the Filou des Mesnils cross brings French jumping blood to that Holstein foundation.

At twenty, Utessa is offered for what she has already given the sport, and the foal she carries is the most exciting part of this lot. Capital’s Castello Z is a young Zangersheide stallion by Chacco-Blue, the most influential sire in contemporary sporthorse breeding, out of a Darco mare with Heartbreaker underneath. Chacco-Blue transmits temperament, natural carefulness and a scope that translates to the biggest arenas with unusual consistency, while Darco mares are prized for bravery and competitive will. Over a mare of Utessa’s proven Holstein substance, Castello Z brings exactly the modern type, blood and rideability the market now demands without diluting the scope she has already proved she passes on. For a breeder who understands damlines, this is the most significant opportunity in the catalogue.