NCSJT_Grand_Prix_Field___web.jpgOttawa, Ontario – Top international show jumping athletes remain in Ottawa for the second and final week of competition in the National Capital Show Jumping Tournaments. With the first week concluded, week two opened on Wednesday, August 19, and runs through Sunday, August 23 at the Nepean National Equestrian Park in Ottawa, ON.

Competitors representing not only Canada, but also Belgium, France, the United States, and Venezuela, have traveled to Ottawa to contest the international show jumping tournament. During the first week of competition, Marie Hecart of France won the $10,000 The Marshes Open Welcome held Friday, August 14, riding Ronaldo. On Saturday, the victory went south of the border when Leslie Howard, Team Gold Medalist at the 1984 Olympic Games and Team Silver Medalist at the 1996 Olympic Games for the United States, guided Lennox Lewis 2 to the win in the $15,000 ATCO Derby.

On Sunday, a showdown between 28-year-old Erynn Ballard of Hillsburgh, ON, and 62-year-old Ian Millar of Perth, ON, in the $25,000 National Capital Show Jumping Tournaments Grand Prix saw Ballard come out on top riding Simply Ahorn. Ballard was the only rider to produce two clear rounds over the testing track designed by Brazil’s Guilherme Jorge, while Millar, a nine-time Olympian and Team Silver Medalist at the 2008 Olympic Games, incurred one time fault riding Stedet’s Leroy.

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