U.S. Olympic gold and silver medalist Leslie Howard topped an international starting field to win the $100,000 CSI2* Synoil Energy Services Cup at the CSI2* Summer Festival held August 6 to 10 at the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park in Palgrave, ON.
As the site of equestrian events for the 2015 Pan American Games, the CSI2* Summer Festival acted as the official observation event and inspection in preparation for next year’s games. In appreciation and recognition of the years of hard work that have gone into rebuilding the Caledon Pan Am Equestrian Park, those involved were honoured during a special ceremony held before the jump-off for the $100,000 CSI2* Synoil Energy Services Cup.
1976 Canadian Olympic individual silver medalist Michel Vaillancourt, who will handle course designing duties at next year’s Pan American Games, set the tracks throughout the week. In Thursday’s $35,000 CSI2* Henry Equestrian Plan Open Welcome, Vaillancourt’s course produced six clear rounds from the 33-horse starting field. In a thrilling jump-off, Canadian Equestrian Team veteran Hugh Graham of Schomberg, ON, chased down the time of 39.66 seconds set by Leslie Howard and Tic Tac, narrowly taking the win with Julie Firestone’s Airborne in 39.63 seconds.