Richard Spooner and Uraguay. Photos © Spruce Meadows Media Services.
Eric Lamaze Takes One-Two Finish in $33,500 Westjet Cup 1.45m
Calgary, AB, Canada – June 27, 2014 – It has been two days and two major victories for Richard Spooner (USA) at the Spruce Meadows ‘Canada One’ Tournament in Calgary, AB, Canada. Following a win with Cristallo on Thursday, Spooner jumped to top honors with brand new mount Uraguay in Friday’s $33,500 Duncan Ross Cup 1.50m. Eric Lamaze (CAN) also got a win on Friday with new horse Fine Lady 5 as well as taking second place honors aboard Check Picobello Z in the $33,500 Westjet Cup 1.45m. The ‘Canada One’ Tournament runs through Sunday, June 29, concluding with the $125,000 Imperial Challenge 1.55m.
Cristina Larangeiro of Portugal set the course for 28 entries in the Duncan Ross Cup 1.50m with six starters advancing to the jump-off and five double clear rounds. Richard Spooner and Legacy Stables LLC’s Uraguay blazed through the short course in 33.45 seconds for the win.
Ireland’s Darragh Kenny and Postage Stamp Farm LLC’s Prof de la Roque finished second in 34.05 seconds. Egypt’s Nayel Nassar and Lordan placed third in 35.75 seconds, and USA’s Quentin Judge and Double H Farm’s HH Donnatella finished fourth in 36.31 seconds. Paige Johnson (USA) and Salamander Farm’s Cambito completed the fifth double clear round in 39.67 seconds.
Uraguay, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Nairobi x Colino), is a brand new ride for Spooner, but the duo proved a promising partnership with a bold jump-off round and a huge effort to the final jump on course this evening.
“It was pretty exciting actually because Sandy and Bob Mockoviak were here, and it was the first time that they had ever seen me ride one of their horses and they just flew in,” Spooner noted. “That was pretty exciting to go clear, and then to really risk everything in the jump-off and risk again going to the last jump because that was crazy long, and he did it. I don’t know how he jumped from that far away. The wall and that corner were coming up pretty quick, but I was so happy with him.”
Spooner first rode Uraguay in Florida just before the start of the Spruce Meadows Summer Series in June and has only shown the horse two weeks before this competition.
“I don’t know much about him,” he admitted. “He is super careful; he is fantastically careful. He is very fast, and he is a real trier. He is also just beautiful to ride. He is lovely, and he has a fantastic mouth. Todd Minikus rode him before me and Mario Deslauriers before that and Albert Zoer before that, so I am lucky getting to follow up some pretty top riders. I am happy that I can do him justice.”
After a fantastic evening, Spooner has chosen to compete Uraguay in this week’s feature class on Sunday, and looks forward to seeing what they can do at the next level.
Lamaze Finishes Top Two in $33,500 Westjet Cup 1.45m
Larangeiro set the track for Friday’s Westjet Cup with a very tight time allowed that caught many of its 93 competitors in the Meadows on the Green. In the end, nine entries finished with one time fault and three more had two faults on the clock. Only seven advanced to the jump-off, where Canada’s Eric Lamaze finished first and second with the only double clear rounds. Lamaze completed the fastest round in 31.84 seconds to earn victory aboard Artisan Farms LLC’s Fine Lady 5. He took second place honors with Artisan Farms’ Check Picobello Z in 35.91 seconds. Ireland’s Richie Moloney guided Equinimity LLC’s Freestyle de Muze to a third place finish with two time faults over the short course in 37.04 seconds.
Fine Lady 5, an 11-year-old Hanoverian mare (Forsyth x Hauptstutbuch), is a brand new mount for Lamaze. “We just got her a little bit before coming to Spruce Meadows,” the rider explained. “My first show with her was Rome. The horse has been winning her entire career, so I knew she was a winner, but you still have to get along with the horse and I was really impressed. I was happy.”
“I really click with that horse. The moment I tried it, I knew that she was my type of horse,” Lamaze stated. “I had a gap to be filled in the 1.50m speed competition in Europe and things like that, so that’s how she came around, and then so quickly we made a good team.”
Lamaze plans to show Fine Lady 5 again in Sunday’s 1.50m competition as well as next week and will go from there. He had high praise for the mare and looks forward to continuing their partnership.
“She is modern,” he described. “She is light, careful, she has blood. Everything you want in a modern show jumper, she has. She is very simple. To go fast, she is a little complicated. She is so fast. She is actually one of the fastest horses I have ever sat on, so you have to just not think so fast.”
A technical course with a tight time allowed kept a lot of the riders out of the jump-off, and Lamaze knew it was not going to be easy when he walked the course, but he expertly qualified both of his mounts for the jump-off.
Heading into the short course early with Fine Lady 5, Lamaze completed what would turn out to be the winning round. He then guided Check Picobello Z into second at the end.
“I went second in the jump-off with her and there were fast riders behind me, so I just played my game with her,” he stated. “Then my next horse was easier because I was the only double clear, so I just wanted to make sure I didn’t have a time fault, which I was close.”
“[Check Picobello Z] is an 8-year-old, and I think a lot of him,” Lamaze declared. “I think it is a horse for the future, so I have been taking my time. I think the world of this horse. I think you will see a lot of him in the future.”
Competition at the Spruce Meadows ‘Canada One’ Tournament will continue on Saturday featuring the $33,500 McDaniel & Associates Cup 1.55m in the Meadows on the Green. The $8,000 Francis Family Cup 1.45m will be held in the Chinook Ring in the morning. For more information and full results, please visit www.sprucemeadows.com.
Lauren Fisher for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
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