The Spruce Meadows summer tour came to a close on July 8 with an outstanding send off as riders competed in the international ring to a crowd of nearly 40,000.
The feature events of the day were the $75,000 Sun Life Financial Reach for the Sun and the $175,000 Chrysler Classic Derby.
The first competition was the Sun Life Financial Reach for the Sun. Twenty-eight horse/rider combinations jumped for a spot into the winners’ circle. The rider to earn that honour was American Carolyn Kelly and her mare Rulanda.
Kelly was excited to finish off the season on such a high note after a rough start. Earlier in the summer tour Kelly had fallen off one of her younger geldings, suffering a broken nose, stitches, and concussion.
After the win Kelly commented, “It’s definitely one of my biggest wins; I’m really excited to have such a good finish.”
The final event of the Spruce Meadows North American Tournament was the $175,000 Chrysler Classic Derby. The derby is an event that has become famous among riders as it boasts a challenging course that uses all the obstacles the Spruce Meadows international ring has to offer.
There have only been 11 clear rounds in the history of the Chrysler Classic Derby and that number wasn’t about to change this year. The closest to jump clear was Canadian Jill Henselwood with her gelding Black Ice. The pair finished with one time fault.
In the end no one came close, with the second place rider Kyle King finishing with four faults. Henselwood spoke of her exceptional summer after the win. “I’ve never had better results at Spruce Meadows. These are my best ever.”
Canadian Mario Deslauriers won the Spruce Meadows North American Championship on July 8 after a very consistent tournament. The title was Deslauriers’ to lose going into the Chrysler Classic Derby. The champion proved his consistency by holding onto that lead and earning the title.
The Spruce Meadows season continues in September with the Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament from September 5 to 9.
Canada Day’s
Champion
Horse enthusiasts came to enjoy Canada Day and fantastic sport at Spruce Meadows on July 1 with the wrap up of the Canada One Tournament.
The athletes were tested by an extremely tough course in the $50,000 Esso Challenge. There were 54 entries in the competition, of which 10 were either eliminated or voluntarily retired.
The first rider to jump clear was Canadian Chris Pratt and Royal Beach Farao. With each rider that followed the prospects of a jump-off got slimmer and slimmer.
The demanding course set by Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios didn’t see another clear round until 16 horses later with Jill Henselwood (CAN) and Black Ice.
There were six horse/rider pairs who finally made the jump-off, rounded out by Leslie Howard (USA) and Youp, Karl Cook (USA) and Uno De Laubry, Eric Lamaze (CAN) and Narcotique de Muze and Ken Berkley (USA) with Carlos Boy.
Pratt was the first rider in the jump-off and he proved unbeatable with a clear round and a time of 38.64.
It was the first international win at Spruce Meadows for the journeyman rider who has been competing here for the past 20 years. “This is incredible,” said an ecstatic Pratt.
“After 20 years of slugging it out here to score a major win at Spruce Meadows on Canada Day feels wonderful.”
Pratt, has only been riding the 12-year-old stallion Royal Beach Farao since February of 2007.
