The sun shone down on Family Fun Night at Spruce Meadows. It was a huge success with 3000 hot dogs, courtesy of real Canadian Superstore, consumed and countless cups of fine Pepsi products. The crowds were treated to exciting competition in the ATCO Midstream Challenge with riders from five nations moving forward to the jump off.
Out of 37 who started, 16 moved forward to the jump off. McLain Ward (USA) aboard Coco, a 10 year old warmblood gelding, was the ultimate winner. “It’s great to be undefeated at Spruce Meadows with this horse. I haven’t had him very long and each time we compete he feels more confident, he reminds me of Goldika.”
The RBC Capital Markets Winning Round was an exciting finale to this evenings’ competitions. The top eight riders from the first round moved forward to the second. It was a who’s who of National and Olympic riders and International Ring newcomer Samantha Buirs, a young rider from Langley, BC, who made it forward to the second round. Ultimately, Eric Lamaze added to his Rolex FEI World Ranking points and his Number One Rider ranking by winning on his speed specialist Coriana van Klapscheut; his sixth international win and his second at Spruce Meadows with this 9 year old Belgian warmblood mare. “The Winning Round format is used a lot in Europe and in this particular competition, going at the end of the first round is good strategy. You can even have faults in the first round and qualify if you’re lucky.” explained Lamaze
Competitions continue tomorrow at the Spruce Meadows “National” tournament highlighted by the TRANSCANADA Parcours de Chasse and the CN Reliability Grand Prix.
For a complete tournament schedule visit the Spruce Meadows website at http://www.sprucemeadows.com/
RBC Capital Market Winning rounds – Top 10
1- Eric Lamaze CAN Coriana Van Klapscheut
2- John Pearce CAN Son of a Gun
3- Mario Deslauriers USA Vicomte D
4- Richard Spooner USA Billy Bianca
5- Mario Deslauriers USA Diablo
6- Leslie Howard USA Utah
7- Eric Lamaze CAN Sidoline Van De Centaur
8- Samantha Buirs CAN Total Touch
9- Hector Caro Elenes MEX Siterma
10- Angela Covert CAN Utan
ATCO Midstream Challenge – Top 10
1- McLain Ward USA Coco 135
2- Michael Whitaker GBR Wild Rose
3- Ian Millar CAN Dryden
4- Kirsten Coe USA Vernon G
5- Guy Thomas NZL Queen Charlotte B
6- Richard Spooner USA Quirino 3
7- Tiffany Foster CAN Victor
8- Mark Samuel CAN Wembley 234
9- Joelle Froese CAN Condor
10- Taylor Land USA Nepal
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