Darco

A great loss was suffered by the showjumping world when the legendary Belgian jumping stallion Darco, ridden by Ludo Philippaerts to Olympic Level and one of the top 10 showjumping breeding sires in the world, died in Belgium. Darco was one of the most successful showjumping horses ever and was also one of the top breeding sires worldwide for jumping horses.

Photo with kind permission of Australian Horse Magazine

Darco's list of achievements as a jumping stallion is testimony to his dream-like career and that of his rider who credits the stallion with getting him into the international show-jumping circuit: the pair came 7th at the Barcelona Olympics, 2nd at Spruce Meadows/Calgary, 6th in the World Equestrian Games and Stockholm, and won and placed highly at countless World-Cups and other important international events. As a sire, Darco, who was described by his rider as an extremely honest and intelligent horse never known to produce offspring that fell short of excellence, was always on top of the list for breeders from all over the world. Mares produced by him are highly coveted as brood mares and often sell for astronomical prices, while many of his male offspring have gone on to become highly successful themselves: Parco (by Darco x Attack Z) was 9th on the World Ranking List in 2001, while King Darco competed at the Atlanta Olympics with Philippaerts. After his retirement from the sport, Darco became one of the World's best breeding stallions for show-jumpers and has remained so until his death in mid-June 2006.

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