Canadian National Team member Yann Candele captured a thrilling victory aboard the 11 year-old Oldenburg gelding Chaventyno, for day one of FEI competitions at the ‘Pan American’ Tournament, presented by Rolex.
It was an impressive international starting list of 56 athletes, who took to the stunning Meadows on the Green Ring for a great afternoon of top sport. The Cargill Cup 1.50m competition, set by Canadian Course designer Peter Grant, presented a test challenging both scope and efficiency from start to finish. With 17 notable combinations qualifying on clean score cards for the jump off, it was no doubt that an exhilarating second round against the clock was soon to follow.
With the advantage of going later in the jump off, Candele found the winning track untouched by his opponents, stopping the clock at 44.43 seconds. He remarked “I made my plan for the inside turn when I first walked the jump off course, I came off of 11A,B with a lot of speed and got very close to the oxer – which ended up making for a bit of a funny turn but I got back in line and just kept going.” He continued, “when I first walked out of the ring I wasn’t sure that I would be all that much faster but after speaking with a few other riders it turned out to be a huge advantage.”