Swail and Steffens kept hope alive in the second round before Millar sealed the deal in the final gold-medal jump-off against Emma Marlowe (USA) of the Trailblazers. Millar piloted Christiano (11-year-old Brandenburg gelding by Canoso x Compliment), while Steffen rode Cat Ninja (14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by VDL Zirocco Blue x Corland), and Swail partnered with Theo 160 (10-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Christian 25 x Calando IV).
Trailblazers took the silver medal while Crusaders settled for the bronze to round out the podium.

A word from the winners

"It was very stressful jumping off for the team. I usually go first on this team, but it worked out. I jump last for Canada a lot, but I don’t have to go fast in Nations Cups." ~ Amy Millar (CAN)

"We’re picking up pace now. We’ve been getting consistent and it’s different from last year. It’s a little more competitive and the standards have been raised, which is great to see, but we had to catch up a little bit." ~ Jacqueline Steffens (CAN)

"We get on very well together. We’re doing our best and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ve been a little unlucky; we were just knocked out by a very small margin a few times. We have a couple of fifths that could have been turned into podiums. It’s nice that we bounced back today and hit our groove again." ~ Conor Swail (IRL)

Major League Show Jumping continues at Traverse City Horse Shows in Traverse City, MI, through September 18 when the historic American Gold Cup CSI5* takes center stage to conclude the week. 

Full Results