Over 36,000 fans joined the Canadian Governor General His Excellency, the Right Honourable, David Johnston, his wife Her Excellency, Sharon Johnston, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Loreen for the feature competition of Saturday of the North American Tournament, the $200,000 ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
The day was filled with a tribute to the Military and their families. The Governor General represented the Queen in the ceremonies and took the salute from the Lord Strathcona’s Horse Royal Canadians 100 man guard, highlighted by the Feu de Joie.
The ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup was a challenging competition. Werner Deeg (GER) designed a demanding, forward riding course. Only 2 riders of the 29 starters managed to best the course in the first and the second rounds, Eric Lamaze (CAN) on Hickstead and Rich Fellers (USA) on Flexible. Eric was first to compete in the jump-off and set a blazing pace. Rich Fellers watched Eric’s every move in the jump–off and knew what pace he needed to have to beat the Rolex Number One Ranked rider, Lamaze. Fellers glanced up at the intermediate time during his round and then committed the sin he always chastises his students for: “I tried to make up time in the air. I always tell my students to wait; you can’t make up time in the air.” Sure enough, he collected 4 faults at that fence as a rail fell, giving Eric Lamaze and Hickstead their 4th ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup win. Ian Millar and In Style received 3rd place putting 2 Canadians on the podium.
“This is fantastic” grinned Eric “I couldn’t do it without riding the best horse in the world.”
For a complete tournament schedule visit the Spruce Meadows website at www.sprucemeadows.com.
ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup – Top10
1. Eric Lamaze, CAN, Hickstead
2. Rich Fellers, USA, Flexible
3. Ian Millar, CAN, In Style
4. Richard Spooner, USA, Cristallo
5. Hap Hansen, USA, Archie Bunker
6. Kent Farrington, USA, Uceko
7. Mario Deslauriers, USA, Urico
8. Kirsten Coe, USA, Tristan
9. McLain Ward, USA, Vocas
10. Beezie Madden, USA, Danny Boy
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