Mac Cone Wins Open Welcome at International Bromont

Two Olympic veterans went head-to-head in the $15,000 FEI CSI2* Open Welcome presented by Assante Wealth Management Group El-Chaer Friday night at the Bromont Olympic Equestrian Park, and it was Canadian Mac Cone (King City, ON) with Chadburn Holdings Con Couleur who emerged victorious.

They stopped the timers of the jump-off course in 30.35 seconds, just ahead of American Peter Leone (Wellington, FL) riding Donner for Lionshare Farm, finishing in second on 31.02 seconds. Finishing third was young rider Alexanne Thibault (Boucherville, QC) who rocketed around the short course on her own Cidanos Z in the fastest time of 28.69 seconds. An unfortunate rail added four faults to their score, dropping them out of the top two.

Con Couleur, a 12 year-old gelding by Conthargos, is working back up to jumping at this level after some time off earlier in the year. The pair have largely been jumping in Eastern Canada and the 1.45m Open Welcome is one of the bigger courses they have jumped together in 2023.

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No stranger to showing at Bromont or among the best, however, Cone had the luck of the draw on his side going last in the jump-off and knew what he had to do in order to knock Leone out of the top spot.

“Peter [Leone] was quite fast — he’s a very quick rider,” said Cone following the victory gallop. “I knew I would have to go faster than I was planning. We’ve been stepping up our jump-off’s all summer and Con Couleur responded right away. I wasn’t worried about the height so we hit a pretty good lick and kept the lines tight for the first three fences. From there we had one tight turn which he handled beautifully, allowing us to leave out a stride at the last.

“I’ve always loved Bromont and it’s been improved drastically over the years,” Cone continued. “We haven’t been here since Covid but it looks like the whole town of Bromont is bouncing back, expanding and improving. I have nothing but great things to say about the town and the show.”

Held on the site of the equestrian events for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games, Quebec’s own Olympian Michel Vaillancourt brought home the individual show jumping silver medal that year. He returns as course designer for the international ring for the first week of International Bromont, with Venezuela’s Leopoldo Palacios taking over for week two.

CSI2* 1.40m Speed Class presented by Soltek Equestrian

America’s Kama Godek (Fairfax Station, VA) opened the FEI division with a win Thursday afternoon, in the CSI2* 1.40m Speed class presented by Soltek Equestrian. Riding her own Conny 409, Godek managed to tighten the lines just enough to finish at the top with a clean round in 54.34 seconds, to squeak ahead of second placed Alexanne Thibault and Cidanos Z with their time of 54.42 seconds. Third went to David Arcand (Boisbriand, QC) riding his own Phil V/D Wezelse Heihoeve, finishing just fractions of a second behind in 54.56 seconds.

For more information and to purchase tickets please visit www.internationalbromont.org.

$15,000 CSI2* 1.45 Open Welcome presented by Assante Group El-Chaer
1. Con Couleur / Mac Cone / CAN / 0/0/30.35
2. Donner / Peter Leone / USA / 0/0/31.02
3. Cidanos Z / Alexanne Thibault / CAN / 0/4/28.69
4. Phil V/D Wezelse / David Arcand / CAN / 4/68.71
5. RF Most Wanted / Sabrina Lefebvre / CAN / 4/70.31
6. Thunderbird VH Scheefkasteel Z / Francois Lamontagne / CAN / 4/71.20
7. Katorose HV / Sarah Johnstone / CAN / 4/72.13
8. Magnum Z / Charlotte Murray / USA / 4/72.39

CSI2* 1.40m Open Speed presented by Soltek Equestrian
1. Conny 409 / Kama Godek / USA / 0/54.34
2. Cidanos Z / Alexanne Thibault / CAN / 0/54.42
3. Phil V/D Wezelese Heihoeve / David Arcand / CAN / 0/54.56
4. Viamdios D’Avril / Lauren Esdale / CAN / 0/54.83
5. Kapital Creation Z / Jade Lalonde / CAN / 0/56.01
6. Ogandros PS / Mac Cone / CAN / 0/57.96
7. DSP Con Carthago / Carly Campbell-Cooper / CAN / 0/58.42
8. Katorose HV / Sarah Johnstone / CAN / 0/58.52.