Catherine Tyree of Chicago, IL, opened the international show jumping division with a victory in the $36,000 McKee Family International Challenge on Wednesday, November 7, at the CSI4*-W Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 96th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, ON.

Home riders from Canada were joined by athletes representing Australia, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States for Wednesday’s power and speed event set by 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) course designer Alan Wade of Ireland. U.S. riders went one-two when Tyree riding Bokai successfully completed the ‘power’ phase of the track before clearing the speed portion in 29.89 seconds, less than a second faster than runner-up McLain Ward on Contagious, owned by Beechwood Stables, LLC. A member of the reigning gold medal WEG team, Ward stopped the clock at 29.97 seconds from the fourth spot in the¬ 23-horse order.

Israel’s Daniel Bluman led off the class and finished third on a time of 31.01 seconds riding Bacara d’Archonfosse, owned in partnership with Kim Douglas and Alexa Schwitzer. Amanda Derbyshire of Great Britain piloted Lady Maria BH to fourth in 31.28 seconds for owner Gochman Sport Horse, LLC, while Australian rider Rowan Willis rounded out the top five riding Italian Gold Van De Kruishoeve, owned by Samantha Buirs, in 31.47 seconds.

Advertisement