Text © World of Showjumping

“Finally we have come together and done it,” Di Lampard, the British chef d’equipe, said after her squad topped the CSIO5* 1.60m BMO Nations Cup at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ 2025 in Calgary, Canada, on Saturday.

Winning on British Day at the iconic venue that this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, Lampard’s close-knit team ended a 29-year drought of British wins in Calgary. “The spirit of this team is second to none,” Lampard said. “It has come together so well this year – I am so proud.”

Teams from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands and USA came to start in Saturday’s CSIO5* 1.60m BMO Nations Cup.

Leopoldo Palacios’ (VEN) track – counting 12 fences and 15 jumping efforts with the time allowed set to 82 seconds – saw many rattle the vertical at number one, while the blue wall at fence number three, the Rolex-double at 4ab, the open the water at fence number five, the Canadian plank at fence six and the BMO triple combination at fence 9abc all demanded bravery and scope, as well as sharp focus until the very end. With the final fence on a bending line being the heartbreaker at the end, the faults spread out, while the time proved to be no issue.

In the first round, clears from Christian Kukuk and Cepano Baloubet (Chaman x Stakkato’s Highlight), Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair (Singular LS La Silla x Cardento 933) as well as Daniel Deusser aboard Gangster v/h Noddevelt (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Careful) meant that Otto Becker’s German squad did not need to send out their anchor pair, Richard Vogel and Cloudio (Casall x San Patrignano Cassini), winners of Thursday’s CSIO5* 1.60m CANA Cup.

Meanwhile, Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien (Toulon x Andiamo), Joseph Stockdale on Ebanking (Etoulon x VDL Sheraton) and Donald Whitaker aboard Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky x Clearway) posted clears for Di Lampard’s British side, making sure the eight penalties collected by pathfinders Matthew Sampson and Ebolensky (Clinton x Heartbreaker) could be discharged.

Only the top six teams after round one qualified to move forward to the deciding second round. Great Britain and Germany were leading the way on a score of zero, followed by Ireland and the USA on a team total of four, Belgium and Brazil carried twelve, while France, the Netherlands, Canada, Austria and Mexico were left out of contention.

Returning in reverse order for round two, Piet Raijmaker’s Team Brazil opened the battle with Gabriel de Matos Machado and Myles van de Mottelhoeve (I Am Moerhoeve’s Star x Carbonnieux van de Helle) picking up eight penalties, while Nicola Philippaerts and Qnokke de Muze (Mosito van het Hellehof x Ronedo FCS) faulted at the water for Peter Weinberg’s Belgian team. Lillie Keenan and Argan de Beliard (Mylord Carthago x Ahorn) set the tone for Team USA, jumping the first double clear of the competition, and Ireland’s Daniel Coyle aboard Legacy (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami) answered right back by keeping their score board clean as well.

In the second round, it was Robert Ridland’s Team USA that kept pushing and putting pressure on the others, with all four horse-and-rider combinations jumping clear: After Keenan, Elena A. Haas and Claude (Captain Jack 44 x Cefalo), Laura Kraut on Tres Bien Z (Toulon x Nabab de Reve) and Aaron Vale aboard Styles (Cornet Obolensky x Canturo) all remained flawless, securing the U.S. a top three finish with their team total of four. However, which step of the podium would be theirs was in the hands of the German and British teams that battled on head-to-head until the very end.

Germany’s Kukuk and Great Britain’s Sampson both faulted at the BMO triple combination, while Hinners and Deusser delivered a double clear for Germany, as did Maher and Stockdale for Great Britain – leaving the final decision in the hands of their anchors. Vogel and Cloudio – who could sit out round one – went out as the second last pair, powering through the Leopoldo Palacios-course looking immaculate until the very last fence, where a slight drift cost them. With a fence down, it was all down to Donald Whitaker and Millfield Colette.

With Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh in attendance, the 33-year-old Whitaker and his wonderful Millfield Colette got the job done as the final combination entering the International Ring trough the iconic clock tower. Jumping a picture perfect round, the two secured a British win in the BMO Nations Cup of Canada – for the first time since 1996. Germany had to settle for second ahead of the U.S. in third, while Ireland finished fourth, Belgium fifth and Brazil sixth.

“It’s never over until they are through the finish,” Lampard said afterwards. “However, I was confident in Donald; he has been in this position before for us this year and I think the progress he has made throughout the year in that position, I was quite happy with that.”

“It was kind of all you ever dreamed of doing, really, being at Spruce Meadows, last go, to win – it is a fairy-tale,” Donald Whitaker said about sealing the deal. “I was just trying to stay relaxed. I had a very good team, and a very good horse as well – that helps.”

“It is British Day,” Ben Maher chimed in. “Everything worked out well and it was nice not to be last to go and just to enjoy Donald’s round.”

“We had to open the horses up early on, and I think the key thing was after the Canadian plank there just to reset, slow down, before it got a little tricky down the next line with the triple bar to the BMO triple combination,” Maher analysed the course. “And to the last fence, as we saw, just to hold the line a bit, not get too excited and go off the inside, which helped us to be in this position in the end; Richard just went a little on the inside, it was very easy to lose the line."