The Western conference of Canada’s only national, coast-to-coast show jumping series heated up when 36-year-old Gary Brewster of West Vancouver, riding Hurricane, won the $40,000 Kubota Cup Grand Prix on the infield of Edmonton Northlands race track.
Brewster snatched the Western conference lead from Calgary’s Albert Kley, who finished out of the money and dropped to third in qualifying.
In June 2’s event, 28 Western Canadians fended off a challenge from four American entries. Foreign competitors can compete for prize money in the individual series events, but are not eligible to qualify for the Kubota Cup National Final. “Fun and fast, great sport,” said Brewster. “I asked Hurricane to step up and he, obviously, did.”
The seven-way tiebreaker for first place pitted six Western Canadians against 25-year-old Bradley Cox, of Ocala, Florida, who finished second on Kosta.
Calgary’s 2000 Olympian, Jonathan Asselin, rode two mounts and qualified both for the tiebreaker. He logged third place on Rayana Chiara and seventh on a new mount, Quidam’s Ramiro.
Hometown favourite and former world champion, Gail Greenough, rode her promising new partner, Lexus, to fourth. Greenough is a native of Edmonton and now lives in Calgary.
Another Calgarian, 22-year-old Emily George, rode Ramila to fifth. Tamie Phillips, of Strathmore, Alberta, rounded out the jump-off, riding her homebred gelding, Lucas, to sixth. Emily George is in her first year on the Canadian Equestrian Team Short List and has seen success in this series before. “I want to go to the National Final again this year,” said George, “and it looks like we are in contention.”
The Edmonton stop was the second leg of the Western portion in the national Kubota Cup series and Brewster’s win boosted him into the overall Western lead. The Western conference winds up in Richmond, BC on August 12, just after the Eastern conference begins.
Five horse/rider combinations each, from east and west, will earn a travel subsidy to compete in the Kubota Cup National Final at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto in November.
