Ulla Brooks recalls looking at the young colt she had bred and wondering, “Is it just me, or he is quite something?”
The answer was emphatically “yes” at the Royal Horse Show in Toronto on November 15 when her Canadian Sport Horse gelding, Ascot Noir (Arko x Café Noir), won both the Governor General’s Cup and Lieutenant Governor’s Cup. The classes, open to Canadian-bred three-year-old horses, are judged on movement and conformation for potential in hunter, jumper, dressage, or eventing disciplines. ‘Scotty,’ a flashy bay with extravagant chrome, also swept the Canadian Sport Horse show at the Royal, winning all classes and finishing as Grand Champion.
“I was on cloud nine,” says Brooks, owner of Wyndalways Farm in Caledon, ON. Despite being a small backyard breeder, she is no stranger to Cup wins. Café Noir (‘Mocca’), Brooks’s first homebred, by Cabardino out of her English Thoroughbred mare Penny Black, won the Lieutenant Governor’s Cup in 2012 and was second in the under-saddle Cup. Café Noir’s full sibling Noir de Noir won the General Governor’s Cup in 2017 and was second in the Lieutenant Governor’s Cup. Another full sister, Carte Noir, won the Governor General’s Cup in 2019.
As well as being Ulla’s first double Cup winner, Ascot Noir may be the Royal’s first Cup winner whose dam was also a Cup winner. He was handled in the line class by D.J. Murtagh, while top hunter/derby rider Kristjan Good rode him in the Lieutenant Governor’s class.
“It starts with a great mare. I’ve been blessed with nice mares that have pretty heads and have correctness,” Brooks says. “I breed to correct stallions. Arko was correct and had a pretty face, Mocca has a pretty face. I breed like to like, because if you do that, chances are you will get something similar.”
“And, I choose stallions that take my breath away with their ability and talent, as well as having beauty and correctness.”
Her foundation broodmare, Penny Black, brought a great neck connection to her daughters, including Mocca, who has “an unbelievably good temperament and is the best mover,” says Brooks.
Mocca had a successful hunter career, showing with top U.S. hunter rider Tommy Serio and as an amateur mount for Brooks. Serio suggested Arko III (a famous international Grand Prix show jumper) would be a good match for Mocca.
While Brooks suspected Scotty had the goods to be a competitive Cup horse, she credits her “Dream Team” – Murtagh, Good and Madelaine Sanders – for bringing out his full potential.
“Kristjan [Good] saw Scotty as a foal and although he is not big into the Cups, he said ‘I would like to ride him as a three-year-old in the Cup class.’ D.J. showed him as a yearling at the Royal and after that, said he would very much like to be part of this horse’s education.”
Murtagh came to Wyndalways to work with Scotty in-hand, and Brooks says Sanders “deserves all the credit” for his under-saddle training prior to the Royal, as Good was busy during show season.
“The stars aligned just right. I knew how capable he was, but nobody knows how they are going to behave in the ring,” says Brooks. “You do your best, hope for the best, and get the best people to work with.”
Ascot Noir will have the winter off, with the goal to have Good ride him in the 2026 Young Horse classes. Brooks won’t have a 2026 Cup horse, but her yearling Pax Noir, out of Mocca’s full sister Noir de Noir, and by Party in de Hus, maybe a candidate in 2027.
Pony Cups
In the Pony Cups, Robin Hannah-Carlton and her mother Marilyn Lee of Sherwood Farm in Ridgeville, Ontario, were repeat winners. Their three-year-old Section B Welsh stallion Arnaby Maverick, who they co-own with Wanda Richardson, was Pony Cup in-hand winner. He was also Grand Champion Sport Pony and Star Search Pony Winner. Two years ago, Hannah-Carlton’s and Lee’s gelding, Arnaby Hulla-Bo-Lou (Louie), was double winner at the inaugural Pony Cup classes.
Arnaby Maverick, owned by Robin Hannah-Carlton and Marilyn Lee . (Rachel Sulman photo)
Hannah-Carlton and Lee have bought multiple ponies from Diane Jackson’s Arnaby Farm, including Maverick, a chestnut with generous white markings. He’s by Mynach Mystical out of Coedendderw Dancing Queen; his aged sire now resides at Sherwood Farm, as Jackson has moved to England.
“We got Maverick as a yearling from Diane, and had to beg her to sell him to us,” says Hannah-Carlton. “In a barn full of beautiful ponies, I was drawn to him. He had a lot of presence, and he’s a bit cocky. He’s very sweet, very correct and an unbelievable mover.”
He shares a dam with Hulla-Bo-Lou, who has since been sold as a pony hunter to the U.S. Maverick, who has two weanlings on the ground at Sherwood, will be kept as a breeding stallion at least until he’s five, while also being developed as a hunter pony.
Twin Willows Cadbury, a palomino gelding owner Shanti Vadnais of Quinte West, Ontario, bought in June from photos and video, took first place in the Pony Cup under-saddle class, and was second in the Pony Cup in-hand. It was Vandais’s first time bringing an equine to the fair.
“It was incredible,” says Vadnais of Cadbury’s win. “Originally, I was just trying to buy a large pony for my daughter to move up to, but I thought if I was buying a three-year-old born in Canada, I might as well try to get to the Royal.”
After not finding what she was looking for in Ontario, Vadnais learned of a part-bred Welsh that breeder Janine Olson of Twin Willows Farm in Alberta had for sale.
(L-r): Austyn McKay and her mother Shanti Vadnais, the owner of Twin Willows Cadbury, Ashton and Taylor Armstrong and handler/rider Cameron Edwards. (Ben Radvanyi photo)
“I knew nothing about his [Welsh] sire, The Key, but a lot of friends on the west coast told me his babies have the best brains and the best temperaments,” Vadnais says.
Vadnais had Cadbury shipped directly to Theresa Detsikas and Cameron Edwards of Rabbit Hill Training & Sales to prep him for the Royal. While the pony has great conformation and movement, Vadnais credits Rabbit Hill for his success in the Royal ring.
“It’s very competitive and the ponies there were just beautiful,” she says. “Cadbury was very consistent, had no baby moments and got his leads. Cameron did a great job developing him, and it showed.”
Peter Armstrong, JP Armstrong, Taylor Armstrong, John Phillips, Trina Maus, Ashton Armstrong and Maura Watson.
Ronnie’s Tux Make a Comeback
Legendary horse handler Ronnie Davidson may be gone, but his memory lived on in black-tie fashion at the Royal Horse Show.
John Phillips of White Lake, Ontario, was awarded the first annual Ronnie Davidson Top Handler Award, sponsored by Judy Lawrie, former wife of Davidson’s good friend, Roger Maus, and Roger’s daughter, Trina (Maus) Armstrong. For the presentation, Trina’s husband, Peter Armstrong, wore a tuxedo that had been worn by both Maus and Davidson. Armstrong was joined at the presentation by his 12-year-old triplets, and Davidson’s widow, Maura Watson.
When Davidson, handler for numerous Governor General’s Cup winners, won his first Cup, he didn’t realize black tie apparel was required for the evening presentation. His close friend, Roger Maus, took off his tux and switched clothes with Davidson. The tuxedo became a sign of friendship and sportsmanship, and Davidson wore the same tuxedo for every Cup presentation over several decades. After Davidson’s death, the tuxedo was gifted back to the Maus family.
Phillips was also a good friend of Davidson’s and being the award’s first recipient “was awesome,” he says. Phillips grew up on a dairy farm and wanted to get into horses as a young man, but his father told him there was no money to be made with equines.
However, Phillips got employed by the RCMP stable, where he worked for 25 years, then went on to run the RCMP breeding program for 16 years before retiring in 2017.
“Dad was really proud to say I worked for the RCMP,” Phillips says, who also had his own horse farm in Quebec until he retired. He got into handling when a client asked him to show a horse on the line. “I watched Ronnie and learned from those visuals, and we’d have conversations about different horses. Little by little, I learned about handling on the line. Ronnie was a big factor for sure.”
Phillips has high praise for Evolution Eh (Aloha/Clover K), a “beautiful horse” owned by Tara Driscoll, that he handled and placed seventh with in the 2026 Governor General’s Cup. He’s planning a return to the ring in 2027 with another Cup prospect.
“For as long as I can do this, I’ll do it,” he says.
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