Mother Nature brought clear skies and sunshine to opening day of the 2019 Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ CSIO5* Tournament. The TELUS Cup was the first FEI competition of the day and 67 horse/rider combinations took to the International Ring hoping to make it into the winner’s circle.
The TELUS Cup is a qualifying competition for both the Suncor Winning Round (Saturday) and the CP ‘International’, presented by Rolex (Sunday). Nineteen riders piloted their mounts through round one fault free to qualify for the jump-off – one step closer to qualifying for the weekend events.
Canadian rider Eric Lamaze, aboard Chacco Kid, held the lead in the jump off with a quick clear ride in a time of 37.22s but was knocked out of top spot by Brazilian Eduardo Menezes. It came down to the final rider of the competition, Daniel Coyle (IRL), who saw great success during the 2019 Spruce Meadows Summer Series, bested them all with a clear ride and time of 36.24s over the 325m track.
Coyle, Menezes and Lamaze have now all qualified for the CP ‘International’, presented by Rolex on Sunday.
“It’s always been one of my favourite shows (the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’) and you always come here trying to get off to a good start and thankfully I did today. Cita is an incredible mare, she’s incredibly fast and sometimes it’s an advantage having guys like them (Eric Lamaze and Eduardo Menezes) in front of you so you know what you have to do.” – Daniel Coyle (IRL) on his win in the 2019 TELUS Cup.
Click Here for the TELUS Cup Results
Eduardo Menezes Tops the Leaderboard in the 2019 AKITA Drilling Cup
The final competition of day one of the 2019 Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament was the AKITA Drilling Cup (1.60m). Forty-five riders started the FEI competition looking to add their name to the historic trophy.
FEI course designer Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) laid out a technical track in round one that produced only seven clear trips. Seven nations were represented in the jump off including France, Ireland, Italy, Israel, Belgium, Brazil and Canada. Ireland’s Conor Swail was at the top of the leader board looking to secure another Irish win, but Eduardo Menezes (BRA) did not want another second place finish. Aboard his Olympic mount H5 Quintol, the pair flew over the final fence clear in a time of 37.45s, inching out Swail who had a time of 37.87s.
“It is not always easy to do, but I try to compete against myself. I do my plan, but use the information I have when I go last (in the jump off). I try to go as fast as I can and leave all the fences up, if that gives me first today, tomorrow second, after tomorrow third and sometimes sixth, it is okay, that is the nature of our sport” – Eduardo Menezes (BRA) on his plan when competing.
Click Here for the AKITA Drilling Cup Results
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