Julia Madigan, 21, of Vancouver, BC claimed the 2017 National 1.40m Junior/Amateur Jumping Championship, presented by Dominion Regalia, on Nov. 5, 2017 at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON.
The title capped off a stellar year for Madigan, who was also an individual gold and team silver medalist at the 2017 Adequan/FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) in Saugerties, NY in July. Her steadfast partner has been Farfelu du Printemps (Action Breaker x Darco), a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by her father, John Madigan
“It’s my first time (at the Royal Horse Show) and it means a lot; it’s the Championship of Canada and very well known,” said Madigan who was crowned champion after accumulating 13 points across the three classes within the division, which saw 18 of the top junior and amateur jumping athletes in the country go head-to-head for the national title.
Interestingly, the Reserve Championship title was shared by Sadie Leon, 20, of Mississauga, ON and Alexanne Thibault, 19, of Boucherville, QC after they both finished the division on nine points.
Madigan kicked things off with a fourth place finish in the $2,500 1.40m Junior/Amateur Welcome on Nov. 4. After laying down a clear performance in the first round over a track set by 2017 Royal Horse Show course designer, Guilherme Jorge of Brazil, Madigan was one of eight riders to advance to the jump-off. Although she piloted Farfelu du Printemps to the second-fastest time of the night in 30.36 seconds, Madigan lowered one rail for four faults.
However, that rail proved to be the pair’s first and last of the competition. On Nov. 5, they returned to earn back-to-back wins in the $2,500 Speed class in the morning, followed by the $10,000 Royal Stake in the afternoon, where a clean and lightning-fast jump-off round secured their championship title.
Although it was Madigan’s debut at the Royal Horse Show, Farfelu du Printemps was no stranger to the Ricoh Coliseum, having won the 2015 Canadian Show Jumping National Championship with Madigan’s coach, Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood, in the irons.
“We bought Farfelu two and a half years ago, and I rode him that summer, but then was off to University in the fall, so Jill took over,” said Madigan, who is a hardworking third-year Mechanical Engineering student at Queen’s University in Kingston, ON. Balancing school life with riding, Madigan makes frequent trips to Henselwood’s Juniper Farms in Oxford Mills, ON to maintain her training. “Jill helps me during the week when I am not able to come to the barn, and she schools him and shows him, and does such great work.”
Leon’s Royal experience began on a high note, winning the Welcome class after being one of just two riders to go double-clear. Riding Camilla (Van Gogh x Hors La Loi II), her 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Leon’s jump-off time of 32.51 seconds was just enough to bump Mackenzie Wray, 18, of Loretto, ON into second place (32.86 seconds) with Castor, owned by Makin Holdings Inc.
Thibault, who was also part of Canada’s silver medalist team at NAJYRC 2017, as well as the individual silver medalist, took third place in the Welcome as the fastest of the four-fault performances – and in fact, the fastest time of the night at 30.36 seconds. She was riding her 2017 NAJYRC partner, Chacco Prime (Chacco Blue x Le Primeur), a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding.
Thibault and Leon both finished outside of the ribbons in the Speed class the following day, but finished strong in the Royal Stake, which saw four riders qualify for the jump-off. Thibault’s jump-off time of 36.42 seconds was just 1.17 seconds off Madigan to earn second place, while Leon picked up four faults in the first round, but had the fastest time for fifth place.
As the overall winner, Madigan was presented with the Canadian Junior/Amateur Championship Plate, donated by the Equestrian Canada (EC) Jumping Committee in memory of Andre Bollinger.
For more information on the 2017 National 1.40m Junior/Amateur Jumping Championship, and full results, visit www.royalfair.org.
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