The victory came aboard Etalon, a horse originally intended for the hunter ring; top Canadian in the class was Kara Chad with Quidamo F.

The Albertan rode a pair of homebreds, winning the 4-year-old class with Nacho Libre BF and the 6-year-old class with Lemonade BF.

The US rider entered four, but his winning mount with 'a stride like Secretariat' surprised him with the gelding's first grand prix victory.

It was a full slate of hunter and jumper events at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC, culminating with Sunday's $20,000 Grand Prix.

“He’s definitely my soul mate,” says the young Canadian of the sales horse who was too special not to keep.

The four-man squad positively dominated the feature event of the Odlum Brown BC Open and the only qualifier in the country.

After a 24-fault 1st round, three riders improved their scores in the 2nd; Mexico and Canada are confirmed to the Final in Barcelona.

The $235,000 Friday feature at Thunderbird Show Park also marked the American's first 5* victory here; top Canadian was Ali Ramsay, 4th.

The Irish rider rode Theo 160 to the win in a field of 52 ; Canada's Mario Deslauriers has two in the top 10.

Thunderbird Show Park's Odlum Brown BC Open starts June 1st and also features the $235,000 Longines Grand Prix.