Venezuela’s Andres Rodriguez is finishing the 2015 Spruce Meadows Summer Series just the way he started. The rider won two days in a row to begin the ‘National’ Tournament in June with Fifty Fifty 111 and Darlon van de Groenhove, respectively. He won again with Fifty Fifty 111 the first day of the ‘North American’ Tournament last week, and Saturday of the ‘Pan American’ Tournament, he dominated the competition with two wins in one day aboard two different horses. The ‘Pan American’ Tournament, presented by Rolex, hosted two competitions in the Meadows on the Green Saturday. Rodriguez began the day with a win in the $34,000 Friends of the Meadows Cup 1.45m aboard SF Ariantha, and continued to victory in the highlight $34,000 McDaniel & Associates Cup 1.50m riding Verdi. The ‘Pan American’ Tournament concludes on Sunday, July 12, featuring the $400,000 Pan American Cup, presented by Rolex. Course designer Guilherme Jorge (BRA) saw 32 entries in the $34,000 McDaniel & Associates Cup, but a tight time allowed caused problems for many of the riders and only two were able to complete the course without fault. Seventh in the order, Rodriguez and Verdi were the first pair to jump clear. It looked like they could win as the competition neared its end with no other clear rounds, but last to go, Emanuel Andrade (VEN) and Bon Jovi made it a jump-off. Earlier in the day, Rodriguez and SF Ariantha won the $34,000 Friends of the Meadows 1.45m competition in a seven-horse jump-off out of 44 starters. Brianne Goutal (USA) and Remarkable Farm’s Ballade van het Indihof began the jump-off with a fast clear round in 29.63 seconds. Last to go, Rodriguez and SF Ariantha were just faster in 29.41 seconds for the win. Francios Mathy (BEL) and Elvis van de Vrunte placed third in 29.75 seconds. Rodriguez started riding SF Ariantha, a ten-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Corland x Emillion) just two months ago. At the time, Jennifer and Mike Crooks owned her, and just last week Robert and Sofi Castro bought the mare for Rodriguez to continue riding.
