The Canadian Show Jumping Team made their mark both individually and as a team during the jumping portion of the prestigious CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival, held July 11-17, 2016.
As one of the final competitions before the Rio 2016 Olympics, which kick off on August 5, the jumping athletes nominated to represent the Canadian Jumping Team in Rio had the opportunity to compete together at one of the world’s top multi-discipline equestrian competitions.
2008 Olympic Champion, Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON had a standout week, picking up two wins aboard Fine Lady 5 (Forsyth x Drosselklang II), a 13-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Artisan Farms LLC and Torrey Pines Stable, and his declared partner for Rio.
Lamaze’s first victory came against a huge field of 60 of the world’s best jumping riders on July 13 in the €62,700 Turkish Airlines Prize of Europe, where he guided Fine Lady 5 to a clear first round before returning for the eight-horse jump-off. Another clear performance in a time of 41.35 seconds gave Lamaze the win over Simon Delestre (who is currently the top ranked jumping rider in the world, holding the number one spot on the Longines Rankings) of France and Qlassic Bois Margot, who stopped the clock at 41.74 seconds.
Just two days later, Lamaze and Fine Lady 5 returned to the winner’s circle for an even bigger prize after topping the €100,000 Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia on July 15. After a starting field of 55 horse-rider combinations completed the first round set by German course designer Frank Rothenberger, Lamaze was invited back as part of the top 25 to complete a second round. His blazing time of 58.13 seconds secured the win by an impressive margin of over three seconds, with the next closest contender, Maurice Tebbel of Germany aboard Chacco’s Son, settling for second place on a time of 61.70.
Tiffany Foster from North Vancouver, BC, also had a successful week, highlighted by a fifth place finish in the €1,000,000 Rolex Grand Prix. Partnered with her declared horse for the Rio 2016 Olympics, Tripple X III (Namelus R x Cantango), a 14-year-old Anglo European stallion owned by Artisan Farms LLC and Torrey Pines Stable, Foster completed the first round with just one rail down for four faults before returning to finish on a high note with a clear second round. As one of the fastest four-fault combinations in a course that saw no double-clear performances, Foster earned her fifth place finish against a field of 39. Germany’s Philipp Weishaupt and LB Convall won on a total of two time faults.
The Canadian athletes also had the opportunity to compete as a team on July 17 in the €350,000 Mercedes-Benz Nations’ Cup. Lamaze and Foster were joined by fellow nominated Rio teammate Amy Millar of Perth, ON and nominated reserve rider, Kara Chad from Calgary, AB. After two rounds of competition, Canada finished in seventh place on a score of 20 faults.
Lamaze led the team in the anchor position, laying down a clear first round and taking just one rail for four faults in round two aboard Chacco Kid (Chacco Blue x Come On), a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by the Chacco Kid Group. Foster and Tripple X III also had a clear first round, and finished on eight faults in round two. Chad and her declared Rio horse, Bellinda (Namelus R x Hors la Loi II), had 13 faults in round one, but ended on a high note after lowering a single rail in round two. Millar also finished strong, incurring eight faults in round one, but closing out round two on four faults.
“It was great, a super team effort,” Lamaze commented about Canada’s nations’ cup performance. “I was riding Chacco Kid, a horse that is greener than Fine Lady, and I was really proud of him in both rounds. Kara made a few minor mistakes in the first round as a 20-year-old riding in Aachen in front of thousands of people, but she corrected herself and put in a great effort for us in the second round. Amy had a great experience – her horse has proven that he is worthy of going to the Olympics with those two rounds – and Tiffany is in great form. It was in (Yann Candele’s) horse’s best interests to sit this one out so we didn’t have our full Olympic team, but we were very happy with our result.”
Team Germany claimed top honours for their hometown crowd for the first time since 2008 on a perfect score of zero faults after applying the drop scores. The United States and France tied for second place on four faults apiece, while Great Britain claimed third on a team total of nine faults.
For more information and full results from the CHIO Aachen, visit www.chioaachen.de/en.
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