Canada’s Eric Lamaze Wins in Wellington, Florida

Wellington, Florida – Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, earned his second major show jumping victory of the 2009 season by winning the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup held on Thursday, February 5, in Wellington, Florida.

The $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup is held each Thursday during the 12-week FTI Winter Equestrian Festival where the best show jumping athletes in the world come to compete. Lamaze, who won during week three riding Narcotique de Muze II, returned to the winner’s circle during week five, this time riding Take Off.

Despite the unseasonably cold weather, a total of 73 horse-rider combinations attempted the track set by two-time Olympic course designer Olaf Petersen of Germany with 23 jumping clear to qualify for the jump-off. As only the fourth rider to attempt the shortened jump-off track, Lamaze took risks to stop the clock in 34.87 seconds. His time would prove to be unbeatable with American Olympian Lauren Hough coming closest, stopping the timers in 35.20 seconds riding Quick Study. 2004 Olympic Champion Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil placed third with a time of 36.44 seconds riding Rufus.

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“Going early, you have to take some risks,” said Lamaze of his jump-off strategy. “The (first round) course was not one of the hardest ones, but it was big enough and there was good quality of horse-rider combinations. We know when we enter the WEF Challenge Cup each week that it is going to be a large field, and especially this week because it is a qualifier for the Grand Prix.”

Lamaze is among the 45 riders qualified for Saturday night’s $150,000 World Cup Grand Prix. He will again ride Take Off, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Artisan Farms.

“She is really competitive, and she is not even a seasoned grand prix horse yet,” said Lamaze, who collected $9,000 US for the win. “She is doing great things from her instinct and her talent. She is really careful, and she jumped amazing!”

Lamaze is competing at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, until March 29. The Individual Gold and Team Silver Medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games, Lamaze is currently ranked number one in the Rolex World Rider Rankings.