Sunday afternoon’s West Canadian Cup delivered another thrilling competition on the Meadows on the Green Ring, Sunday of the Spruce Meadows ‘Pan-American’ Tournament, presented by Rolex.
There were 59 entries who started in the bold test designed by Peter Grant(CAN), with a total of nine entries qualifying into the jump off.
Daniel Coyle(IRL) was last to go in the round against the clock and knew exactly what he had to do to try and defeat the current World #1 rider, Kent Farrington(USA). With important FEI World Ranking points, top prize money and a Spruce Meadows champion title at stake, Coyle, who’s had an incredibly successful Summer Series thus far, piloted the 11 year-old chestnut stallion Grafton (Calvaro x Vondeen) to victory by only 0.05 seconds over a notable roster.
Coyle stated, “I love to win but I hadn’t planned the round I rode – If I had been first to go I would have been a second or two slower but I knew what I had to do and was confident that Grafton could do it.” He continued “He hasn’t been in the best of form the last three weeks so hopefully this means he is happy and ready to perform for the remainder of the series.”
Kent Farrington(USA) brought Sherkan Damaury (Kannan x Quick Star) into the 1.50m jump off course as the second last competitor. The top three positions were all within 0.08 seconds of each other creating great excitement for fans and guests of the Spruce Meadows ‘Pan American’ Tournament.
The early lead was occupied by Israel’s Daniel Bluman aboard the very talented 10 year-old Belgian Warmblood mare, Bacara D Archonfosse (Asca Z x Kannan). Bluman rode Bacara through an efficient track matched with powerful ground speed – but it was not quite enough to earn top spot against the incredibly fast Farrington and Coyle positioning him third on the podium.
Source: Text and photo (c) Spruce Meadows.