Blainville, Quebec – Amy Millar, of Perth, Ontario, admits that her 2008 season got off to a slow start, compared to her sensational 2007 season. But she changed all that Sunday in Blainville, Quebec, winning the $50,000 grand prix. It was really a test of speed, as 11 of the 18 entries jumped clean and advanced to the jump-off. The 31-year-old daughter of Canada’s most frequent Olympian, Ian Millar, out-ran them all on Costa Rica Z. Millar crossed the finished line more than 2/3 of a second faster than former Canadian Champion Laurie Bucci, on Lalelu. The top six in the jump-off all repeated their clean performances, but Millar stopped the timers at 39.98 seconds to Bucci’s 40.66. “It was a very fast jump-off”, Millar said.
Millar, currently the #6-ranked rider in Canada, also qualified her other mount, Piccobello du val du Geer, for the jump-off and finished fourth, with a time of 41.46 seconds. Her brother, Jonathon Millar, finished sixth on his new grand prix mount, Fahrenheit.
With several visitors from the U.S. in the field, two of them claimed the two remaining spots in the top-six. Alistair Gatherum and Santana finished third, and former U.S. team member Alison Robitaille (formerly Alison Firestone) rode Via Volo to fifth.
The Millar siblings will compete in Blainville for another week before moving on to Bromont, Quebec; Palgrave, Ontario; and Ottawa. Then both will travel to Hong Kong to watch their father compete in his ninth Olympic Games.
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