This year The Royal debuted the $50,000 Royal Team Challenge, pitting top riders from Canada, the United States and “the world” against one another. The best six scores from each team counted toward the final result and team USA emerged the victors with a final score of just eight faults. Team International finished with 18 and Canada brought up the rear with 25.
“We jumped a lot of clean rounds!”lLaughed the captain of team USA, McLain Ward, when asked what set his team apart. “We had a good group of horses and riders tonight, and I think it’s great that they are trying to bring back a team competition here. The course was not huge, it was 1.45 metres, but it had some challenging areas and horses had to be paying attention.”
This year’s Royal Horse Show runs through Sunday afternoon and two of the biggest classes are yet to come. Tomorrow night’s $50,000 Weston Canadian Open and Saturday’s $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben Challenge will afford premium points to those chasing the Leading Rider awards, while Saturday afternoon’s Canine-Equine Challenge is one of the family-highlights of the Royal and always proves great fun and entertainment for all ages. By the time the competition ends, nearly $750,000 will have been awarded in prize money, making The Royal the most prestigious and hotly contested event of the season. For more information, media accreditation, live webcasting, complete schedule, results and to purchase tickets, please visit www.royalfair.org.
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