Karl Slezak of Tottenham, ON, and Fernhill Wishes kicked off Saturday night’s competition by racing to the win in the $20,000 Horseware Indoor Eventing Challenge. Fresh off their last competitive appearance at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, the pair sat in third place following Friday night’s opening round of competition, but a heart-pounding round on Saturday night catapulted them to the top of the leaderboard.
“He’s usually a pretty chill horse,” said Slezak of Fernhill Wishes, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by Slezak and Kirk Hoppner. “To feel him have that energy and that little extra pizzazz in atmospheres like this is awesome. It’s easy to do the footwork, add strides, or leave them out because he’s so energetic in this atmosphere.”
Kendal Lehari of Uxbridge, ON, held the lead coming into Saturday night riding Totally Frank, but a cumulative time over the two rounds left them in second place. Third place went to Toronto’s own Brandon McMechan riding Oscar’s Wild.