Eric Lamaze wins RBC Grand Prix of Canada
Spruce Meadows fans flocked to the International Ring to take in the 2019 RBC Grand Prix of Canada, presented by Rolex. A contingent of strong international riders got set to take on the technical track designed by FEI course designer Peter Grant (CAN) tested. Forty horse/rider combinations stepped through the clock tower to take on the challenge.
Seven riders made it through to the jump off including Canadians Eric Lamaze and Nicole Walker, Beezie Madden (USA), Kent Farrington (USA) and Conor Swail (IRL) and World #1 rider Steve Guerdat (SUI) who held the anchor position. With those kind of players, there was no room for error.
Swail was the first to post a double clear round with a time of 47.20s but Lamaze would soon follow with a time of 46.96s aboard Chacco Kid to take the lead. It came down to the final rider, Steve Guerdat. Guerdat knew what he had to do to win, but it was not to be today. Coming in with a clear ride and a time of 46.96s, Guerdat would slide into second place.
“At one point it was a dream for me to come back here [Spruce Meadows] and compete, but with the help and a lot of support from great friends, like Steve [Guerdat], my clients, staff, people around the world, the dream came true and this (winning) is just the icing on the cake.” – Eric Lamaze (CAN) on winning the 2019 RBC Grand Prix of Canada, presented by Rolex.
Darragh Kenny (IRL) Continues to Win
Mother Nature brought the sunshine for Saturday morning of the 2019 Spruce Meadows ‘National’ presented by Rolex. The action on the International Ring began with the TC Energy Winning Round (1.50m), which 31 horse/rider combinations qualified for earlier in the week.
Athletes competed over round one of the competition and the top ten athletes moved forward to the winning round. These top ten athletes represented seven nations with Ireland, Mexico and the United States each fielding more than one rider.
The riders returned to the winning round in the reverse order of scores from the first round. Kent Farrington (USA) was second last to go in the winning round and posted a quick clear ride with a time of 52.47s. Ireland’s Darragh Kenny was the final to go in the competition, took advantage of watching Farrington’s ride and came in faster with a time of 51.86s.
“I got to watch Kent, I knew how fast he was – he can go so fast, I knew I just needed to be faster and I had to take as much risk as possible and hope the jumps stayed up.” – Darragh Kenny (IRL) on going last in the TC Energy Winning Round and what it took to win.
Complete results here.
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