Dutch Victory for Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze

Olympic Champion Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, won the €20,000 Milcon Prix on Friday night, November 19, in Maastricht, The Netherlands.

Lamaze was the first of 63 competitors to contest the €20,000 Milcon Prix and posted a clear round with Coriana van Klapscheut to advance to the jump-off. He would eventually be joined by 21 other riders. Again first to go, Lamaze posted a jump-off time of 35.07 seconds that none of the other 21 competitors could catch. Simon Delestre of France came the closest, placing second with a time of 35.15 riding Couletto. For his victory in the €20,000 Milcon Prix, which acted as a qualifier for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Maastricht, Lamaze earned €5,000 in prize money.

“It was a hard course, and we were up against all of the Grand Prix horses, but Coriana was perfect,” said Lamaze of the eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned by Artisan Farms. “I knew that the jump-off was going to be very fast, so I went as fast as I could possibly go. Coriana was really good, really scopey, and very mature for her first day indoors in an impressive arena.”

Lamaze will continue to compete at CSI4* Maastricht on Saturday with Atlete Van’t Heike and Sidoline van de Centaur, both owned by Artisan Farms, before deciding which horse to ride in the Grand Prix of Maastricht on Sunday.

Maastricht is the first of four consecutive stops on Lamaze’s European indoor tour. He will next compete at CSI5* Brussels, Belgium, from November 25-28 where he will ride his Olympic gold medal partner, Hickstead, owned by Ashland Stables and Lamaze’s Torrey Pines Stable. From there, it is on to CSI5* Paris from December 2-5 and then CSI5*-W Geneva, Switzerland, from December 9-12to conclude the 2010 competition year. Lamaze will then be based in Wellington, Florida, for the winter season.