Twenty-one riders entered in the Nexen Cup Derby on the final day of the Spruce Meadows National, providing great excitement for the 36,000 fans in attendance. Even the sun came to play just in time for the start of the competition.
Eduardo Menezes (BRA) entered the ring, 8th in the order of go, on his 13 year old gelding, Percynality. Menezes had a 4 fault round, but time caught up and he finished with a total of 5 faults. Fans flocked to the International ring to watch their favourite athletes compete for the $175,000 purse, tackling a complicated course designed by course designer Leopoldo Palacios (VEN), involving 25 obstacles and an allowed time of over 2 minutes. Rail after rail came down for top riders like Michael Whitaker and Eric Lamaze. American Leslie Howard managed to make it through with only 4 faults at a time of 158.420 seconds. Second place finisher Eduardo Menezes (BRA) commented after the competition that he was thrilled to have placed so high, considering it was only his second time in a derby on his 13 year old gelding, Percynality. “I was in this derby four years ago with the same horse, but we had 48 faults, we obviously weren’t ready. So we took a couple years off, and came back more prepared,” said Menezes.
For American Leslie Howard it was a satisfying win with her veteran partner. “Lennox is so reliable but I was a bit worried today as our preparation and warm-up hadn’t gone well”, she said reflecting on the victory. For Howard it was the fourth time she’s jumped to victory in a Spruce Meadows derby. It’s the second Derby win for Lennox Lewis.
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