Edited press release from Major League Show Jumping

Canada's own Jacqueline Steffens Daly is no stranger to Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) victories with longtime mount Freaky. She returned to the spotlight on Thursday evening by taking top call in the CSI5* 1.50m BFL Qualifier on opening day of MLSJ Toronto (CAN) during leg two of season four. 

With Freaky, Steffens Daly has collected eight MLSJ team podiums during her time as a member of Team Eye Candy. Now she's chasing individual glory with the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Darco x Litho X) she owns with Team Eye Candy.  "The focus this week is the grand prix; I tried to prioritize tidy turns and going forward where I could but balancing for the fences themselves," she said. 

Steffens Daly stopped the clock at 41.46 seconds in a fiercely quick 8-horse jump-off over Guilherme Jorge's (BRA) course. "Freaky feels in amazing form, so I think we are going in strong for the grand prix and excited about it."

The 5* Kubota Grand Prix takes center stage on Saturday evening and has Steffens Daly chasing superstitions. During the three MLSJ seasons, it has become customary for the qualifier winner at MLSJ Toronto to also win the grand prix. Daniel Bluman (ISR) stole the honor in both 2021 and 2022 before Kent Farrington (USA) did it in 2023. "No pressure," joked Steffens Daly.

A bright star on the horizon of U.S. show jumping, Alessandra Volpi (USA) left it all on the line but finished five tenths of a second off the pace to take second riding Candy Luck Z (Comme Il Faut 5 x Canturo).  Thursday was a good day at the office for the entire Daly-family as Jacqueline's husband, Dylan Daly (IRL) jumped onto the podium in third aboard Cinderella Z (Chacco-Blue x Julio Mariner XX), a 14-year-old Chacco-Blue mare owned by Double C Stables.