Canadian veteran Mario Deslauriers jumped to victory aboard S & L Quatro Van De Meerputhoeve in the final 5* competition of the ‘Continental’ CSI5*, presented by Rolex, on Sunday, June 8 at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, AB. Following a week of Irish domination, today was Canada’s day, with Calgarian Kara Chad coming second in the All Canada Ring finale with Igor GPH.
Twenty-five horse/rider combinations took on Canadian FEI course designer Peter Grant’s track, with six qualifying for the jump-off. The podium was rounded out by Ireland’s Conor Swail, who had a win earlier in the week and was third fastest of the closely-bunched clear efforts with Casturano.
“I’ve been coming Spruce since I was fourteen, so make the math, I’m sixty now. It’s a long time,” remarked Deslauriers. “I gained a lot of experience and [there are] a lot of ups and down here, but it’s great facility, best in the world. We all love to come here and we know we can really make a horse here.”
