Edited press release from Spruce Meadows
The fifth and final day of the Spruce Meadows 'North American', presented by Rolex, started with the CSI3* 1.50m Lafarge Grand Prix in the International Ring. It was an incredibly difficult competition which saw only two clear rounds from Ben Asselin (CAN) on The Freshman (Namelus R x Chin Chin) and Rowan Willis (AUS) on Wellington Grey Goose (Corlensky G x Grandero) out of the 18 horses and riders entered.
The course, designed by FEI course designer Peter Grant (CAN), featured 13 obstacles, 15 jumping efforts and a time allowed of 85 seconds. Many riders ended up with time faults on their score, speaking to the efficiency with which the track demanded from the athletes. With Asselin and Willis being the only two to post clear rounds, the pair moved into the jump-off to compete for the first place finish.
Asselin took to the ring first for the 360m long jump-off which had a time allowed of 54 seconds. He managed to keep the rails up while laying down a fast time to beat of 41.92 seconds. Willis entered the International Ring, intending to defeat Asselin's score, though ended up catching a rail to land him with four faults, placing him in the second ribbon position. Third place went to Hilary McNerney and Chuck 27 (Cassus II x Ramiro's Son II), with one time fault from the first round.