Rio Olympians Tiffany Foster of North Vancouver, BC, and Amy Millar of Perth, ON, headline the list of Canadian show jumping athletes scheduled to compete at this year’s Royal Horse Show, held from November 4 to 13 as part of the 94th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Canada.
Foster and Millar comprised one-half of the Canadian Show Jumping Team that jumped-off for the bronze medal against Germany at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, eventually placing fourth.
Foster returns to the Royal Horse Show following a 15-year hiatus. Having won both the Running Fox CET Medal Final as well as the Jump Canada Medal in 2001, Foster has not competed at the Royal Horse Show since her equitation days. Currently ranked 24th in the Longines World Rider Rankings, Foster will be a favourite in the international show jumping division with her three mounts, Victor, Brighton and Chesney.
“I am thrilled to be returning to Toronto for The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair,” said Foster, who rides for Artisan Farms based in Vranse, Belgium and Wellington, Florida. “There is always great atmosphere at The Royal, and I am really looking forward to competing alongside my fellow Olympic teammate from Rio. The Canadian crowd always gets behind us, and I am sure they will raise the roof for us in Toronto!”
Canadian talent will be showcased on the opening weekend of The Royal Horse Show with riders from across the nation traveling to Toronto to compete in the $100,000 Greenhawk Canadian Show Jumping Championship on November 4 and 5. Following both phases of the two-day competition, a new Canadian Show Jumping Champion will be crowned.
Millar will be going head-to-head against her father, ten-time Canadian Olympian Ian Millar, who is also a ten-time Canadian Show Jumping Champion. The elder Millar will look to increase his record to 11 national titles riding Dixson, a horse that is returning to competition following a sinus surgery that prevented him from competing at the Rio Olympics. Jonathon Millar, who trains alongside his sister and father at Millar Brooke Farm in Perth, ON, will also be a strong contender for the Canadian Championship title, as will last year’s runner-up Mac Cone of King City, ON, riding Gasper van den Doorn. Canadian Olympians Beth Underhill and Hugh Graham, both of Schomberg, ON, will also be making their bids for the title, as will young guns Vanessa Mannix and Chris Surbey, both of Calgary, AB, just to name a few.
Foster, who is pre-qualified based on her world ranking, will represent Canada in The Royal Horse Show’s CSI4*-W international show jumping division, highlighted by the $130,500 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Toronto on Wednesday evening, November 9. One of only four Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping events to be held on Canadian soil, the competition is a qualifying event for the 2017 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tickets for opening weekend at The Royal can be purchased by visiting royalfair.org.
For more information on the Royal Horse Show, the marquee event of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, visit royalfair.org/horse-show. A complete horse show schedule can be accessed here.
More from Horse Sport:
