Canadian athletes were a force to be reckoned with on the fourth day of the 2018 Adequan/FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) presented by Gotham North, on Aug. 4 in North Salem, NY.
Chase Robertson and Winsome Take Bronze in Junior Dressage
After a significant rain delay, the Dressage Junior Riders returned to the ring to tackle the Individual Competition. Chase Robertson of Calgary, AB put her all into a beautiful performance on Winsome (Obelisk x Wolfgang), Teresa van Lambalgen’s 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding. Her efforts produced a personal best score of 70.029%, which initially resulted in a tie with Bianca Schmidt of US Region 4 riding Lou Heart. After a judges’ conference, it was confirmed the bronze medal would be awarded to Robertson, and silver to Schmidt. Caroline Garren of US Region 3 took gold with a score of 70.147%, partnered with Bell Angelo.
“I think I rode my hardest,” said Robertson. “I really went for things and tried my very best, and it paid off. This is just an incredible experience, and I’m blown away with how this has all come together. I’ve only been doing Juniors for six months, so I could never picture anything better than this. I’m extremely happy with how it went, and I couldn’t have asked for a better ride or a better partner to ride it with.”
Brooke Mancusi of Winnipeg, MB also found herself in a top-10 tie. She danced her way to a score of 67.167% with Wellknown (Wynton x Havidoff), her 10-year-old Westphalian gelding, to tie for seventh place with Raegan McCool and FHF Racharee from US Region 2.
Following Mancusi on the leaderboard was Anna Swackhammer of Rockwood, ON in ninth place, who scored 66.824% with Melissa Sinclair’s 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Wrazzmatazz (Jazz x Darwin). Jade Buchanan of Newmarket, ON rounded out the top 10 with Cassandra Jessop’s nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Qaro GS (Quaterback x Florestan I). The pair’s score of 66.059% earned them the 10th spot.
Samantha Starratt Closes Out NAYC with Second-Place Finish
Following the first two Jumping Individual Qualifiers, the top 25 athletes were invited to move on to the Individual Final on Aug. 5, with all remaining athletes invited to participate in the Farewell Competition, consisting of an initial round followed by a jump-off.
Samantha Starratt of Calgary, AB represented the maple leaf in the Junior/Young Riders Farewell Competition with Akolito (Acodetto I x Polydor), a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by Tonia Anderson. After the initial round, all competitors were invited to move on to the jump-off, where a clear round in 39.86 seconds clinched Starratt’s second-place position. Top honours went to Barbara Ruziska of US Region 3, who edged out Starratt with a clear time of 38.01 seconds aboard Elonie. Lukene Arenas Saravia of Guatemala and Icarus van de Kalevallei earned third place, stopping the clock in 53.81 seconds with 10 penalties.
Starratt and Akolito were cheered on by a dedicated Canadian support section, whose unwavering enthusiasm throughout NAYC 2018 has affectionately earned Canada the title of “noisiest nation of them all” from the show’s commentators.
Catch the Final Action on Day 5
NAYC 2018 will conclude with a full day of action on Aug. 5, featuring the Jumping Individual Final for Children’s, Junior and Young Riders. The dressage ring will host both the Junior and Young Riders Freestyle Championships.
The full schedule for dressage and jumping at NAYC 2018 can be found here.
For full results from Day 4, click here. More information on NAYC 2018 can be found at www.youngriders.org.
Top 30 Canadian Results – NAYC 2018
Dressage Junior Rider Individual Championship
Placing / Athlete / Horse / Owner / Score
3rd / Chase Robertson / Winsome / Teresa van Lambalgen / 70.029%
7th / Brooke Mancusi / Wellknown / Brooke Mancusi / 67.176%
9th / Anna Swackhammer / Wrazzmatazz / Melissa Sinclair / 66.824%
10th / Jade Buchanan / Qaro GS / Cassandra Jessop / 66.059%
15th / Molly Gunyon / Weltwunder / Molly Gunyon / 64.794%
18th / Ariel Boesener / Winniepuuh / Ariel Boesener / 63.647%
21th / Lily-Rose Lemaire / World Lady / Lynda Tétreault / 63.353%
24th / Kiara Williams-Brown / Ladybug / Margaret, Robert and Simone Williams / 63.00%
27th / Gabrielle Bouchard / Dalanda / Gabrielle Bouchard / 62.324%
Jumping Junior/Young Riders Farewell Competition
Placing / Athlete / Horse / Owner / Score / Time
2nd / Samantha Starratt / Akolito / Tonia Anderson / 0 / 39.86
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