Spruce Meadows 'Oktoberfest”' Tournament
October 26, 2008
Calgary, AB --- After five rounds of competition in the feature competition, the $15,000 Beaver Drilling Puissance, it was decided that a five way tie for first place could not be broken.
The Beaver Drilling Puissance tests horse/rider combinations over a brick wall, which has height added to it after each round. In order to assure the safety of the horses the competition is capped at five rounds.
Competition began with ten competitors and finished with five who were able to master the wall through all rounds. With a final height of 1.94 metres, top spot was earned by five very worthy competitors, Florian Meyer Zu Hartum (GER), Joh Garner (GBR), Lisa Carlsen (CAN), Beda Wachter (CAN) and Jonathan Asselin (CAN).
Grand Prix Success
Saturday --- It took an eight horse jump-off to decide the champion of Saturday’s feature competition, the $15,000 RBC Grand Prix. The first round saw 31 horse/rider combinations make their way around the 15 jumping effort course designed by, Guilherme Jorge (BRA). Only eight solved the demanding test to move on to the second round.
The jump-off featured eight jumping efforts over 240m with a time allowed of 42 seconds. The winner would need to be clear and quick to lay claim to the RBC Grand Prix. Molly Graham (CAN) and her mount Malva 10 were both, finishing the jump-off clear with the nights fastest time of 32.02 seconds.
Sunday --- The last competition of the 2008 Spruce Meadows season was the $12,500 Rogers Sugar Cup. In order to lay claim to the final prize of the year athletes first had to complete the difficult course set by Brazilian course designer Guilherme Jorge. The course featured 15 jumping efforts over 445 metres with a time allowed of 77 seconds.
Riding quick and clean was a problem for many of the 35 entries, some sacrificing time for a no jumping fault round. In the end seven were able to clear the course under the time allowed to move on to the jump-off.
The jump-off course took place over seven jumping efforts with a time allowed of 40 seconds. Finishing the year on a high note was Calgarian Jonathan Asselin and his mare Rayana Chiara. The dynamic pair rode clean to a time of 29.496 seconds.
The Spruce Meadows “Oktoberfest” Tournament concludes the 2008 tournament season. We look forward to seeing you all in 2009.
Beaver Puissance top 5 – T1 - Florian Meyer Zu Hartum GER Lolita T1 - Jon Garner GBR Nick of Time T1 - Lisa Carlsen CAN La Boom T1 - Beda Wachter CAN WH Ciris T1 - Jonathan Asselin CAN Carlos Don Benito RBC Grand Prix top 10 of 31 starters – 1- Molly Graham CAN Malva 10 2- Taylor Bland CAN Tango Las Marismas 3- Emily George CAN Quidam’s Ramiro 4- Jonathan Asselin CAN Rosita Fly 5- Bryna Closson USA Rip Tide 6- Femke Van Den Bosch CAN Timebreaker 7- Brian Morton CAN West Side 8- Susan Anderson CAN Storm 9- Stephanie Lewis CAN London Beat 10- Lindsay Uyesugi CAN Oz Rogers Sugar Cup top 10 of 35 starters – 1- Jonathan Asselin CAN Rayana Chiara 2- Taylor Bland CAN Tango Las Marismas 3- Susan Anderson CAN Storm 4- Molly Graham CAN Malva 10 5- Bryna Closson USA Rip Tide 6- Femke Van Den Bosch CAN Timebreaker 7- Danielle Van Der Werf CAN Dutchmens Cash B 8- Jonathan Asselin CAN Lennox 157 9- Beda Wachter CAN Carthago Sun III 10- Jaclyn Duff CAN Sebastian
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