Santiago Lambre and J'Adore van het Klinkhof, winners of The Partners CSI5* 1.50m competition at Spruce Meadows 'Continental'. Photo © Mackenzie Clark.
Edited press release from Spruce Meadows Media
It was a beautiful day to start the 2023 Spruce Meadows FEI tournament season. Horses and riders from all over the world have arrived and are settled into what will be a month long stay in the Alberta Foothills.
On Thursday, The Partners CSI5* 1.50m competition was the final class on the North American Ring. Nine different countries were represented on the order of go, and all the athletes were looking to post fast clear rounds in this Table A competition. The track designed by FEI Level 4 course designer Marina Azebedo (BRA) featured 11 obstacles, 13 jumping efforts and options over the liverpools.
It was a very green, white and orange leaderboard as Irish riders Daniel Coyle, Conor Swail, Darragh Kenny and Paul O’Shea placed second, third, fourth and fifth respectively – but it was Brazilian Santiago Lambre riding J'Adore van het Klinkhof (Thunder vd Zuuthoeve x Alcatraz) who took the win. The pair posted a clear round with a time of 65.84 seconds.
John Perez and Gigi-Carmen fastest in The Entourage 1.45m
John Perez and Gigi-Carmen, winners of The Entourage 1.45m. Photo © Mackenzie Clark.
The North American Ring hosts all of the FEI CSI5* competitions this week and to start it off, horses and riders competed in The Entourage 1.45m one-round against the clock. FEI course designer Marina Azebedo (BRA) laid out a 510m track that athletes needed to complete in 77 second or less.
Spruce Meadows veteran John Perez (COL) piloted Gigi-Carmen (Bacardi VDL x Oklund) around the track with ease. The pair posted a clear round in a time of 68.30, seven seconds faster than runners-up Darragh Kenny (IRL) and Arna 'T Kruisveld (Arko III x Indoctro). Sameh El Dahan (GBR) took the third place with Oscar-A (Harley VDL x Cardento).
Then