Summer Series Recap
CANADA’S ERIC LAMAZE ENJOYS STRONG START
The 2016 Spruce Meadows Summer Series was a smashing success in every way: spectacular sport, a wonderful blend of athletes from around the world, Alberta sunshine, eclectic entertainment, a truly international vibe and tremendous crowds all contributed.
At near capacity, Spruce Meadows was a hive of activity from the first week of June until the last day of the CSI 5* ‘North American’ tournament presented by Rolex on July 10. When the flag came down on the Summer Series, Spruce Meadows championships and the rewards that go with them had been awarded to athletes from all reaches of the globe.
The Spruce Meadows Summer Series proved a vital requirement and preparation to many athletes’ with sights on the Olympic Games in Rio. The Games, which concluded just three weeks ago, featured many horse/rider combinations that had spent the weeks leading up to Rio at Spruce Meadows. Now many more, including an array of team and individual medallists, have made the journey to Calgary and the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’.
An early highlight of the Spruce Meadows season was the first FEI Grand Prix event, the Spruce Meadows ‘National’ Grand Prix, presented by Rolex. Conor Swail of Ireland and the beautiful chestnut mare, Martha Louise, leapt into the winners’ circle with a dramatic jump off victory; one that gave Canadian fans a sense of Fine Lady, the new star Eric Lamaze was riding. It also gave fans a preview of the excitement and clear rounds that would lay ahead for the pair throughout the entire summer.
When Lamaze started riding Fine Lady, a 13-year-old Hanoverian mare, less than two years ago, he did not consider her to be a solid 1.60-metre horse. However, she has proven that she can be competitive at some of the biggest venues in the world.
“She proved to me that she can jump some big courses if you manage her well and build her up. She again stepped up today to do a bigger class quite easy,” he commented.
“She’s a very light, thoroughbred-type jumper. She doesn’t have raw power. That’s why all these speed classes and jump offs, she runs so fast. You just have to give her the courage to look at a big jump and believe she can jump it. She’s very talented and very careful. It’s important that she has a lot of confidence in me and I have a lot of confidence in her. That’s how a little horse like that can make it over some of these big fences.”
Lamaze was starting the 2016 Spruce Meadows season in a manner that illustrated why he sits atop the record book as the winningest rider at Spruce Meadows. In fact, earlier in the day he scored the first major Spruce Meadows championship of the season in the TransCanada Winning Round.
The TransCanada Winning Round had 28 starters and a format where the top 10, regardless of first-round faults, return for a jump off. Faults do not carry through to the jump off, but determine the order of go.
Lamaze and Rosana du Park, an 11-year-old Selle Francais, were fast and clear in the first round, setting them up for the perfect position in the second-round order.
When Lamaze entered the ring, he was following fellow Canadian Olympian Tiffany Foster, who had set the leading time with a clear round in 55.88 seconds on Brighton. Lamaze and Rosana du Park sped around the course, turning in a time just under in 55.69 seconds for victory. Third place went to Sameh El Dahan of Egypt on WKD Diva.
Lamaze is the most successful rider in Spruce Meadows’ 41-year history, earning more than $4.6 million. But he said that winning never gets old, especially at Spruce Meadows.
“They do it in such a fun way with the presentations. You can go around the world and not see presentations like that at major tournaments,” he said.
“Here it’s fun to ride (to the ring in) the golf cart, too; you don’t do that at any other events. I love the presentations here, and that’s what keeps you wanting to win.”
The winning wasn’t just confined to Lamaze and Swail during the 2016 Spruce Meadows Summer Series. As has become the norm, there was a wide variety of champions over the five weeks. Those champions included some familiar names such as Americans Leslie Howard and Kent Farrington. Farrington continued his phenomenal success of recent years winning both the ‘Pan American’ Grand Prix and the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
American Grand Prix success was also realized by Peter Lutz who captured the CP Grand Prix in a three-rider jump off that include fellow Americans Charlie Jacobs and Andrew Ramsay.
Mexican riders Patricio Pasquel and Antonio Maurer also won Spruce Meadows championships during the Summer Series, as did American teenager, and rising star, Lucy Deslauriers. But perhaps the most memorable win and victory ride of the summer went to Canada’s Chris Surbey who, on the final day of the Spruce Meadows ‘North American’, rode the 12-year-old mare Quetchup de la Roque to an historic clear round to win the Enbridge ‘Classic Derby’. It certainly marked a highlight of the season to date, with many more to come this week at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’.