For riders not competing in the BMO Nations' Cup, the CSIO5* 1.60m Tourmaline Oil Cup was the final competition to qualify for Sunday's CP 'International', presented by Rolex. Over 50 competitors stepped through the iconic Clock Tower onto the International Ring to take on the challenging track designed by Leopoldo Palacios (VEN).
Over the track with 12 obstacles, only six of the athletes, representing six nations, passed all the tests to advance to the jump-off. Today, victory belonged to the United States as Mclain Ward aboard HH Azur (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Sir Lui) were in top form. The pair sailed over the final fence in a time of 40.74s and could not be caught.
"It is exactly what you expect at Spruce Meadows. Leopoldo (Palacios) has to deal with the top horses and riders in the world," Mclain Ward said about competing at the Spruce Meadows 'Masters'.
The second place went to Daniel Deusser (GER) and Bingo Ste Hermelle (Number One d'Iso x Diamant de Semilly), with a time of 41.04 in the jump-off, followed by Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Jefferson (Cooper Vd Heffinck x Irco Mena) in third after the pair clocked a time of 45.92. Harrie Smolders (NED) and Darry Lou (Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve x Nabab de Reve) finished fourth, and Daniel Bluman (ISR) shared his fifth place with Ladriano Z (Lawito x Baloubet du Rouet) and Nicola Philippaerts aboard Katanga v/h Dingeshof (Cardento x Tornado).