The Spruce Meadows grounds were buzzing with activity as the crowds arrived to celebrate Canada Day and watch the ‘Pan American’ Cup, presented by Rolex. Riders qualified earlier in the week to jump in the $435,000 feature competition and FEI Course Designer Gregory Bodo (FRA) was going to make them work for it.
Bodo constructed the first round track offering 13 obstacles (16 jumping efforts) that included a triple combinations, double combination and the open water. The track was 550m in length and had to be completed in under 83 seconds.
Six combinations passed all the tests of round one - a course that was built to Olympic capability specs. First to tackle the jump off was Kyle Timm (CAN) who had to play the waiting game after going second in round one. Aboard Candar Mail (Lando), Timm posted a quick clear round in the jump off with a time of 45.61s. The pressure was on with the remaining jump off riders needing a clear to even be considered for the winner’s circle.
Former world number 1 Kent Farrington (USA) was the only one able to catch Timm. Riding the quick 10-year-old gelding, Landon, the pair sailed over the finish line with a time of 42.36s to take the victory. Paul O’Shea (IRL) and Imerald van 't Voorhof (Emerald) rounded out the top three with four faults in the jump off and a time of 41.07s.
“We had a super crowd with it being Canada Day, so that that brought a little extra energy to the to the day of competition. Great weather. I think this is a really special ring (Meadows on the Green) here. Different feel than the International Ring, but still feels like important venue. A great experience for the horses and it was an awesome competition today.” - Kent Farrington (USA) on his experience today in the Meadows on the Green.
