Wellington, Fl. – While sports fans across America were focused on football, Canada’s top-ranked show jumper logged his first grand prix win of 2008 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. The $50,000 Smart for Life Grand Prix CSI2* closed out week three of the 12-week CN Winter Equestrian Festival, presented by Zimmerman Advertising.
Attracting 63 entries, course designer Luc Musette of Belgium set a technical track for the $50,000 Smart for Life Grand Prix which saw a dozen competitors advance to the jump-off. As the second jump-off challenger, Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, N.Y., took the early lead with Onlight, stopping the clock at 41.66 seconds.
Five horses later, Eric Lamaze entered the ring riding the Belgian-bred mare, Narcotique de Muze II owned by Ashland Stables. One week earlier, the pair had posted the fastest time in the $40,000 KRR Enterprises CSI2* Grand Prix jump-off, but incurred a rail in the process. They made no such mistake this week, leaving all the rails safely in their cups and crossing the timers in 40.42 seconds.
The final jump-off competitor was the only one to give Lamaze a run for his money, specifically the $15,000 first-place pay check. 19-year-old show jumping sensation Brianne Goutal of New York City, N.Y., had the crowd behind her as she raced to the final fence riding Onira, but the clock told the final story – 41.03 seconds would leave her the runner-up.
“I had a good feeling that the time would stand up, but this is a very competitive circuit,” noted Lamaze, 39, the leading money earner at last year’s CN Winter Equestrian Festival. “I try to leave nothing on the table, I don’t want to leave the ring and wish I had done something different.”
Lamaze has been partnered with Narcotique de Muze II for the past three years and noted, “She’s 11 and she’s done a lot of international shows. It’s a horse that I am comfortable going fast with, and I know her extremely well. She’s mature, dependable – there’s nothing that bothers her.”
Lamaze is waiting a few more weeks to bring his Olympic hopeful, Hickstead, back into competition. Hickstead has been recovering from abdominal surgery since October, but Narcotique de Muze II has proven to be a strong back-up mount, carrying Lamaze to several major victories. “She’s very competitive”, he said but emphasizes that, as good as she is, she is still his second-string mount. He still has his sights set on riding Hickstead in the Olympic Games in August.
Goutal, a student at Brown University, was content with her second-place finish aboard Onira, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Nimmerdor that she has been riding for the past five years.
“I missed seeing Eric’s jump-off round because I was schooling, but I knew Eric would be fast and hard to beat,” she said. Goutal was quick to give credit to her sponsors Devoucoux, Ramard and Seashore Acres, her coach Max Amaya and, of course, her family including younger sister Clementine Goutal who, earlier in the day, had won the $10,000 Junior Jumper Classic riding Kelline Fonroy in the International Arena.
One other Canadian made the 12-way jump-off. 2007 Pan American Games alternate Karen Cudmore rode Southern Pride to seventh place. Cudmore resides in Nebraska, but is a native of Victoria, B.C.
$50,000 Smart for Life Grand Prix CSI2*
1. Narcotique De Muze/Eric Lamaze/Ashland Stables – CAN – 0.00 77.94/0.00 40.42
2. Onira/Brianne Goutal/ Coverleaf Farm – USA – 0.00 78.82/0.00 41.03
3. Onlight Breeze/Beezie Madden/Team Onlingt – USA – 0.00 78.80/0.00 41.66
4. Ardeche Van de Zelm/Lisa Silverman – USA – 0.00 79.62/0.00 41.87
5. Calibur/Kelley Robinson/Cimmarron Farms LLC – CAN – 0.00 78.20/0.00 43.68
6. Nottingham/Schuyler Riley/South Beach – USA – 0.00 79.17/0.00 45.12
7. Southern Pride/Karen Cudmore/Blair Cudmore – CAN – 0.00 78.87/0.00 46.60
8. Armani/Jeffery Welles/Triton Ventures Farms Inc – USA – 0.00 76.17/4.00 41.65
9. Claus/Anglea Moore/Stealaway Farm LLC – USA – 0.00 77.20/4.00 44.03
10. Why Not/Marie Hecart/Don Eddy Farm – FRA – 0.00 76.86/4.00 44.70
11. Cadanio Z/Andrew Welles/Peter Welles – USA – 0.00 79.68/4.00 46.32
12. Vancouver D’Auvrey/Danielle Torano – Sir Ruly – USA -0.00 79.12/8.00 40.98
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