It was a day of firsts for Canadian rider Isabelle Lapierre, as the 38-year-old rode her own Cescha M (Diamant de Semilly x Calando IV) to her first World Cup victory in the pair's World Cup debut at the opening leg of the 2017/2018 season of the Longines FEI World Cup North American League in Bromont (CAN).

In front of a hometown crowd, the Quebec native vanquished a six horse jump-off. Jennifer Serek and Wicked (Eurocommerce Berlin x Diamant de Semilly) took runner-up honors, and Heather Caristo-Williams and Qui Vive des Songes Z were third (Quaprice Z x Lagos). Only Lapierre and Serek managed to produce clear rounds, and 0.31 seconds separated them in the jump-off.

“She had a very good year, and she’s always trying to win,” Lapierre said. “We built her up, and she’s just improving every year.”

Third to return over the shortened track designed by Belgium’s Luc Musette, Lapierre took over the lead briefly set by Serek, crossing the timers in 43.39 seconds and held through to the end as neither Ali Ramsay (CAN) nor Chalie Jacobs (USA) could jump cleanly or catch her time.

“Every time I jump here, I feel the crowd is jumping with me,” she added. “I think that’s why I went faster than Jen. The crowd was pushing me. I had an advantage.”

“This is the first World Cup Qualifier [Wicked] has ever done. I knew there were fast riders behind me, and I gave it my best shot, but I just missed out a little bit," said Serek afterwards.

The first World Cup qualifier of the 2017/2018 season in Bromont (CAN) kicked off the east coast sub league of the North American League. The west coast sub league begins at Langley on Sunday 27 August 2017.