Lillie Keenan of the United States laid claim to the $225,000 RBC Grand Prix riding Argan de Beliard on Sunday, August 27, to close out the Major League Show Jumping Ottawa tournament at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, ON.
It was a battle to the end as the 34-horse starting field was whittled down for the jump-off after 10 jumped clear over the track set by Canada’s Michel Vaillancourt on Wesley Clover Parks’ expansive grass field. The jump-off proved to be full of surprises as the riders laid everything on the line. Ireland’s Daniel Coyle, who had been riding a winning streak all week in Ottawa, had a refusal with Quintin while the last to go, hometown favourite Amy Millar of Perth, ON, suffered the same fate riding Truman.
In the end, only two riders managed to jump clear in the jump-off, with Keenan coming out ahead of fellow American Chloe Reid. Reid had posted the first clear round of the jump-off in a time of 46.71 seconds riding Crossover 4, but Keenan was able to shave more than a second off to take over the lead, crossing the timers in 45.17 seconds aboard Argan de Beliard. The sole four-fault jump-off round belonged to Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam who would have had the time, 44.56 seconds, if not for a rail down riding Cjoxx Z for owner Epic Stables LLC.