(SPRUCE MEADOWS, Calgary, AB): The clouds parted and the sun finally shone down on Spruce Meadows, but true to form, along with it came a little rain. But a little sun shower could do nothing to slow down France’s Yann Candele in the Nexen Cup 1.45m.
It’s easy to understand why he’s grinning as he leaves the ring after his victory ride, Candele has just broken his first-place curse.
“I think in the past two weeks I’ve been 2nd six or seven times and finally I made it through,” he laughs.
Naturally part of his success is due to his horse Tyra whom Candele has been riding for a year and a half. The time allowed in the first round caused the first few riders quite a bit of grief, so he knew he would have to count on his mount’s speed.
“Eric (Lamaze) went first and told me to be very efficient. Actually I was just under the time allowed,” says Candele. “You’ve got to take your chance when you have one.”
The advice of his business partner and show jumping adversary, Eric Lamaze, carried Candele in to the jump-off where he and Tyra went first and managed to maintain their lead in the 10-horse jump-off to win the Nexen Cup.
Making his victory all the more sweet is the fact that this is Candele’s first victory over Lamaze in the 2006 Spruce Meadows Summer Tour. “Of course I will tease him, it’s for all the times he teases me,” jokes Candele.
Britain’s Mark Armstrong came in second on Thesaura after sailing through the first round, defying the short time allowed.” To be honest it’s a bit hard if you were early to go because you don’t really know how tight everything is,” says Armstrong. “But 10 clears is enough…they had to sort them out somehow.”
Both Armstrong and Candele will be competing in tomorrow’s CN Performance World Cup. The World Cup is the second leg in the $1 Million CN Precision Series, where Norman Dello Joio (USA) will be looking for a second win in the Series and a $50,000 bonus. It will also serve as a final “observation” trial for the Mexican and Canadian teams being selected for the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany.
$30,000 Nexen Cup
1 TYRA YANN CANDELE (FRA) 0 43.550 $10,000
2 THESAURA MARK ARMSTRONG (GBR) 0 44.940 $5,000
3 UNCLE SAM ASHLEY FLEISCHHACKER (USA) 0 46.550 $3,300
4 CAPONE I 0 KYLE KING (USA) 49.450 $3,000
5 AIR TIME RICHARD SPOONER (USA)4 43.640 $2,250
6 INTEGRITY BEEZIE MADDEN (USA)4 44.820 $1,850
7 FLUBBER COCOY LISA SILVERMAN (USA)4 46.480 $1,400
8 LENNOX LEWIS 2 LESLIE HOWARD (USA) 8 45.350 $1,050
9 RAIMOND W LESLIE HOWARD (USA) 10 51.140 $650
10 LOLITA JONATHAN ASSELIN (CAN) 10 51.470 $600
Molson Cup
In the Table A (Art. 239) $20,000 Molson Cup, it was the USA 1-2-3. Kyle King riding Estival bested Beezie Madden on Conquest II while Leslie Howard and Youp finished third.
1 ESTIVAL KYLE KING (USA)0 76.560 $6,000
2 CONQUEST II BEEZIE MADDEN (USA) 0 78.810$3,500
3 YOUP LESLIE HOWARD (USA) 0 80.340 $2,400
4 BEQUIA CHRIS PRATT (CAN) 0 80.520 $1,800
5 MILLCREEK MARCO TAERE YANN CANDELE (FRA) 0 81.210 $1,500
6 QUIRINO 3 RICHARD SPOONER (USA) 0 81.690 $1,400
7 ROSITA FLY JONATHAN ASSELIN (CAN) 0 83.910 $1,100
8 PLAY ON BEEZIE MADDEN (USA) 0 83.950 $650
9 TELEGRAPH KATIE MCVEAN (NZL) 0 85.340 $525
10 DURACELL MARIO DESLAURIERS (CAN) 0 85.344 $375
The CN Performance World Cup begins at 2:00pm on Meadows on the Green.
You must be logged in to post a comment.