In a sea of Irish winners for weeks at Spruce Meadows, Czechian rider Valcalv Stanek found his way to the top of the leaderboard riding Quintin in the $500,000 RBC Grand Prix of Canada, presented by Rolex, during the ‘National’ tournament.
Mario Deslauriers (CAN) walks the course before the RBC Grand Prix. (Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk)
After successfully navigating FEI course designer Olaf Petersen Jr.’s (GER) first-round track, Stanek, along with nine others, qualified for the jump-off. Riding the 15-year-old Quintin, a mount aboard which he’s had previous grand prix victories at Spruce Meadows, Stanek bested them all, stopping the timers in 42.72 seconds.
“I really like this place [Spruce Meadows]. I was watching videos from this place since I was a little kid and hoping that one day I could just see it. I wouldn’t even dream about riding here. So it’s really a dream come true to come here last year and win the [Duncan Ross] Grand Prix, and then the next year, do it again. That is really unbelievable,” said Stanek.