Calgary, AB, Canada – The weekend of the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament CSIO 5* started with sunshine and fantastic sport. Crowds of spectators filled the stands to see the best horses and riders in the world compete for their countries in the $300,000 BMO Nations’ Cup. Canada, led by the double clear of 20-year-old Ben Asselin and Makavoy, were victorious for the first time since 2006 over the United States and Belgium. Earlier in the day, Conor Swail (IRL) and Martha Louise took the top spot in the $125,000 Suncor Energy Cup 1.50m. The Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ concludes on Sunday, September 14, with the feature event, the $1.5 Million CP International, presented by Rolex, part of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. The $300,000 BMO Nations Cup had eight top teams compete in the first round, and six returned for the second round. Canada had a solid performance in the first round and were leading with just one fault. Belgium was one rail behind with five faults, and the USA had nine faults. The courses this week are designed by Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela. Millar spoke about the difficult parts of the course, where only eight clear rounds were recorded. “It sure did the job. When we walked it, the obvious problems were right there for you to see,” he explained. “The triple combination was typical Leopoldo, to use brown material on top and white plank below to draw the horse’s eye down. There were a lot of faults at that triple combination. The time allowed was tough. When we got into the second round, my guess would be the shadows made a difference.” Millar led off the team in round two with Dixson and had just four faults. They were clear in round one. Tiffany Foster and Tripple X III also knocked down one rail in round two, while they tallied just one time fault in the first round. The team leader was Ben Asselin on Makavoy, who recorded double clear rounds. Eric Lamaze and Zigali P S had eight faults in round one and due to Canada’s lead that couldn’t be beat, did not have to return for round two. Canada finished on nine faults. Lamaze relayed, “I felt if I would have had to go, things would have gone a bit better for me. When you’ve got great riders in front of you riding rounds like that, often the last rider doesn’t have to go. These riders did a great job today.” “After the first round, I was feeling a lot better. The nerves kind of subsided, and I knew I could do it,” Asselin recalled. “The horse jumped great in the first round, and he jumped even better in the second round. I got a little bit lucky at the ‘bike’ (fence). He was just incredible today, and I felt like I was on it. He gave it his all.” All four of the United States’ riders improved in round two from round one. Members included Lauren Hough and Quick Study (5,4), Leslie Howard on Tic Tac (4,0), McLain Ward and HH Carlos Z (5,4), and the incredible anchor ride of Beezie Madden and Simon, who were double clear. Madden and Asselin were the only double clears of the competition. Team USA finished on 13 faults. Belgium was unable to record a clear in round two, which relegated them to third place. Pieter Devos and Dylano led with a clear in round one, but had eight faults in round two. Olivier Philippaerts and Cabrio van de Heffinck had four faults in both rounds, while Niels Bruynseels and Pommeau du Heup had one and four faults. Anchor Nicola Philippaerts and Challenge vd Begijnakker had eight and 17 faults. They finished with 21 faults. Fourth place went to France with 23 faults, Switzerland was fifth on 28 faults, and Great Britain was sixth on 37 faults. Germany was seventh and Ireland was eighth. Canada’s victory today is only the second time since 1977 that they have won the BMO Nations’ Cup. Millar has been a regular member of the Canadian team, and stated, “It’s always a little embarrassing that we didn’t have a better record here because we come with our best game, and we really try so darn hard. Maybe that’s the problem, I don’t know. We’ve had some lovely finishes in it, but the win has been elusive, shall we say. It’s a fantastic day today, and it’s great to be a part of this team.” This was Asselin’s first time competing in the BMO Nations’ Cup and he had high expectations for himself. “I hoped it would go this well, and it couldn’t have gone any better. I’ve dreamed of riding on the team with these guys for a long, long time,” he said. “To come out with a gold medal was a pretty special experience.” Foster said that the Canadian team always has great camaraderie and support for each other. “You feel that as a rider,” she remarked. “We were all really nervous as everyone was going around. After Ben went in the first round, we had a lot of faith in him, and we were kind of depending on him to go clear again. He pulled through.” Chef d’Equipe Mark Laskin had big smile on his face when he spoke about today’s results. “My expectation every time out with my riders is that we’re going to win. Whenever we don’t, I’m disappointed. Today, not so much!” he exclaimed.
