Born and raised in Calgary, Kara Chad has been a staple around Spruce Meadows since her junior jumper days. She is now a regular on the top international circuits and consistently in the ribbons. On Sunday, aboard her nine-year-old homebred mare Corinna Z, she topped the leaderboard in the ATCO CSI2* Grand Prix 1.45m, posting the fastest clear jump-off round in a time of 36.48 seconds and edging out her fiancé Matthew Sampson of Great Britain aboard Un Secreto Z. One other Canadian place in the top 10 – Dylan Munro riding Attache Stables’ Calippo 57, who finished 8th.
Only the top 30 horse/rider combinations had qualified earlier this week for a chance to compete in this Grand Prix finale over FEI course designer Olaf Petersen Jr. of Germany’s course, with just 11 advancing to the jump-off.
ATCO CSI2* Grand Prix 1.45m
1. Kara Chad (CAN) & Corinna Z
2. Matthew Sampson (GBR) & Un Secreto Z
3. Beezie Madden (USA) & Nairobi
4. Conor Swail (IRL) & Qoreen Van’t Ruytershof
5. Hilary Scott (AUS) & Lola
Daniel Coyle (IRL) and Farrel win the final day’s ATB Cup on the International Ring. (Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk)
Daniel Coyle and Farrel Jump to Victory in the ATB Cup
The final competition of the ‘National’ belonged once again to an Irish rider, this time Daniel Coyle of Ireland aboard Ariel Grange’s solid campaigner Farrel. The pair took the ATB Cup 1.50m with only five entries jumping clear in round one and qualifying for the jump off.
The Irish have been a force all season long and Coyle continued that dominance aboard the 15-year-old gelding with the only double-clear effort of the competition. Canada’s Kara Chad had to settle for second with Igor GPH (a horse she had already logged two strong second-place finishes with at the ‘Continental’ earlier in the month) after lowering a rail during a very quick jump-off round. The only other top-10 Canadian was Erynn Ballard, who placed 6th with Ezarka de Belheme.
Coyle reflected on his years of experience at Spruce Meadows. “I’ve ridden every single ride and every single ring on every stage of a horse from five to fifteeen, sixteen [years]. And it has really, really improved me as a rider. The time allowed is different here, the speeds are different here. The jumps are different here. So you’ve got to adapt to that.
“When I look back at the first year I was here, lots of mistakes were made and probably ones that stuck with me forever. And I’ve learned a lot here – and I ain’t finished.”
ATB Cup 1.50m
1. Daniel Coyle (IRL) & Farrel
2. Kara Chad (CAN) & Igor GPH
3. Eugenio Garza Perez (MEX) & Chalouries PS
4. Sameh el Dahan (GBR) & WKD Toronto
5. Darragh Kenny (IRL) & Zero K
For full results click HERE.
There are still two weeks left of top international show jumping at Spruce Meadows! The ‘Pan American’, presented by Rolex, runs June 26-29 and the ‘North American’ runs July 2-6.
The EPIC Weekends of the tournaments run Friday to Sunday and feature a host of amazing activities around the grounds including Outdoor Movies at the Meadows; live, local music on the Scotiabank Stage; Kids Zone; performances on the Deloitte Ring and tons of food, beverages and shopping – all included in the general admission ticket.
~ with files from Spruce Meadows Media
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