The ‘North American’ Tournament CSI5*, presented by Rolex, runs July 6-10 to conclude the 2016 Spruce Meadows Summer Series. Highlights include the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Saturday, July 9, and the Enbridge Classic Derby on Sunday, July 10.
Spain’s Santiago Varela is the course designer in the International Ring for this week’s competition. Varela concluded his first day with 27 entries in the PWC Cup 1.55m, and a six-horse jump-off that saw a top three finish for Canada. Lamaze and Fine Lady 5, a 13-year-old Hanoverian mare (Forsyth x Drosselklang II) owned by Artisan Farms and Torrey Pines Stable, won the jump-off with the fastest clear round in 42.67 seconds. Tiffany Foster (CAN) guided Artisan Farms and Torrey Pines’ Tripple X III to second place honors in 44.81 seconds, and Yann Candele (CAN) jumped the Watermark Group’s Showgirl into the third position in a time of 45.01.
Hardin Towell (USA) also jumped clear over the short course in 45.48 seconds to place fourth aboard Jennifer Gates’ Emilie de Diamant AS. Richard Spooner (USA) and Show Jumping Syndication Intl.’s Cristallo were fast in 43.14 seconds, but dropped one rail to finish fifth. Alberto Michan (MEX) had two down in the jump-off with Ilan Ferder and Tal Milstein’s Gigolo van de Broekkant to place sixth.
Commenting on his winning mount, Fine Lady 5, Lamaze stated, “Fine Lady is a great story. Artisan Farms purchased her for me. We were not sure where we were going, but we knew for sure we had a winner in the 1.50m. She had proven that with her previous rider. Sometimes you click with a horse and you get a little bit more, but I feel like she would do anything for me. She is a fantastic mare with a lot of heart and she just keeps jumping well. She is confident and I know her really well, so she is turning into a really special horse for me.”
Detailing the tiebreaker in which he was last to go, Lamaze detailed, “Tiffany had the misfortune of going first in the jump-off. So many of these competitions at Spruce Meadows are won with the last rider going in, as you are able to get a feel for the track and how fast you need to go. Going last is definitely a big advantage in most competitions here at Spruce Meadows.”
Speaking of her own jump-off with Tripple X, Foster added, “It was actually a really nice jump-off for my horse because he has a really big stride and it was really open. If you just looked at the two of our horses standing next to each other, mine is a lot bigger than Eric’s. For me to gallop on a big stride is actually not that fast for me, but I thought my horse jumped great and I was really happy with him.”
Final Results: PWC Cup 1.55m
1 FINE LADY 5 Hanoverian / M / 13 / Forsyth x Drosselklang II
ERIC LAMAZE (CAN) Artisan Farms & Torrey Pines: 0/0/42.67
2 TRIPPLE X III AES / S / 14 / Namelus R x Catango Z
TIFFANY FOSTER (CAN) Artisan Farms & Torrey Pines: 0/0/44.81
3 SHOWGIRL Selle Francais / M / 16 / Gold de Becourt x Elf III
YANN CANDELE (CAN) Watermark Group: 0/0/45.01
4 EMILIE DE DIAMANT AS Belgian Sport Horse / M / 12 / Diamant de Semilly x Flipper d Elle
JACK HARDIN TOWELL JR. (USA) JKG LLC: 0/0/45.48
5 CRISTALLO Holstein / G / 18 / Caretino x Cicero
RICHARD SPOONER (USA) Show Jumping Syndication Intl: 0/4/43.14
6 GIGOLO VAN DE BROEKKANT Belgian Sport Horse / G / 10 / Hearbreaker x Unknown
ALBERTO MICHAN (MEX) Ilan Ferder & Tal Milstein: 0/8/46.50
7 PARETTE Brandenburg / M / 10 / Pessoa VDL x Barinello
LISA CARLSEN (CAN) Lisa Carlsen: 3/102.70
8 MARTHA LOUISE Swedish Warmblood / M / 12 / Maloubet de Pleville x Wolfgang
CONOR SWAIL (IRL) Susan & Ariel Grange: 4/87.92
9 ZILVERSPRINGS Dutch Warmblood / G / 12 / Silverstone x Emilion
ELIZABETH GINGRAS (CAN) B Gingras Equestrian Ltd: 4/90.67
10 CARTIER Oldenburg / G / 11 / Cartoon x Sheyenne de Baugy
ANTONIO MAURER (MEX) Mario Onate: 4/93.06
11 LORDAN Warmblood / G / 12 / Lordanos x Landor S
NAYEL NASSAR (EGY) Nayel Nassar: 4/93.51
12 LA BAMBA Swiss Warmblood / M / 11 / Lordanos x Chameur
ANTONIO CHEDRAUI (MEX) Antonio Chedraui: 5/94.30