Saturday at Spruce Meadows was packed with excitement and a full house of spectators as two of the highlight events of the 2015 ‘National’ Tournament, presented by Rolex, were held. Continuing a fantastic winning streak, Kent Farrington (USA) raced to victory on top horse Voyeur to win the $400,000 RBC Grand Prix, presented by Rolex. Reed Kessler (USA) finished second with Cylana and Jaime Azcarraga (MEX) placed third aboard Anton. Earlier in the day, Rich Fellers (USA) guided Colgan Cruise to victory in the $60,000 TransCanada Parcours de Chasse. Italian course designer Uliano Vezzani set the track for the afternoon’s feature competition in the $400,000 RBC Grand Prix, presented by Rolex. Twelve out of 50 entries qualified for the jump-off, where fans were on the edge of their seats as many of the world’s very best battled it out for a top prize of $132,000. Only five were able to clear the short course without fault as times got faster and faster. Francois Mathy (BEL) was the first competitor to go clear in the jump-off aboard his own and Team Harmony’s Polinska des Isles and finished fourth with a time of 46.55 seconds. Jaime Azcarraga jumped next with his family’s Anton and earned the third place prize in 44.22 seconds. Reed Kessler upped the speed with her round in 42.69 seconds aboard Kessler Show Stables Cylana, eventually settling for second place. Yann Candele (CAN) and Watermark Group’s First Choice 15 then clocked the fifth place time of 47.57 seconds. Last to clear the short course without fault, Kent Farrington notched the winning time of 41.75 seconds with Amalaya Investment’s Voyeur. This win marks Farrington’s 24th FEI victory at Spruce Meadows since 2011 and brings his all-time money earnings at the competition to an impressive $1,306,560. The rider has been on a role with Voyeur, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding (Tolano van’t Riethof x Goodwill), including their most recent victory in the Longines Global Champions Tour (LGCT) Grand Prix of Hamburg in Germany.
