International Bromont Wrap-Up, July 23-25, 2010

The 35th Edition of the International Bromont ended its first week of competition with the 1.60m World Cup Qualifier, granting a $65,000 prize made possible by the support of Bonjourquébec.com. The World Cup North American League presents six Canadian competitions, two of which taking place in Québec: The first one was held in Blainville, Sunday July 18. Today in Bromont, all was set for a memorable event! Many questions lingered: would Mario Deslauriers raise the crowd and take top honours? Would François Lamontagne ride to a 2nd victory in life, following last week's feat in Blainville? The suspense lasted until the French- Russian-Canadian triple-threat jump-off. Yann Candele ultimately clenched victory with a faultless run in 40.53 seconds, with Ljubov Kochetova finishing flawless in a 41.33 seconds time. Native of Mount-Royal, young David Arcand took 4th place!

23 rider-horse teams took to the course, including Olympic equestrians Jay Hayes, Mario Deslauriers and Jill Henselwood, as well as Canadians Yann Candele and Mark Samuel, and also Éric Flameng from Belgium, Irishman Jonathon McCrea and Ljubov Kochetova from Russia. Our up-and-comers also rose to the challenge: David Arcand, François Lamontagne and Vanessa Paschini, along with Angela Covert Lawrence, stepped to the starting line. Mexican course designer Catalina Cruz presented the riders with technical difficulties worthy of their skills: 14 obstacles, no triple combinations but 4 double combinations, broken lines, exacting turns and colours which could prove misleading to the horses. The allowed time was 93 seconds.

First on the course, François Lamontagne suffers a refusal from his horse and lowers two rails. Riding Esther 138, Vanessa Paschini from Boisbriand performs a course that is close to perfect, but her shortly trained young mare garners a jumping fault. Big names such as Jay Hayes, Lisa Deslauriers and Irishman Jonathon McCrea can't overcome the many technical challenges. We would have to wait until the 10th competitor on the course, Yann Candele, to finally witness a flawless run. Immediately thereafter, David Arcand dashes onto the course to the anticipation of the crowd. All is well until one of the bricks from the wall-like obstacle tumbles to the ground. The Québec native signs off with 4 penalty points, but his time is still excellent with 88.39 seconds, his overall performance offering hopes for a good ranking. With her mount Aslan, Ljubov Kochetova is meanwhile a great contender. Indeed, the Russian-born finished 2nd in Blainville last week. In the current event, her performance ultimately calls for a jump-off. The challenge looks promising, as her first round's stopwatch is very close to that of Yann Candele, the latter showing 87.67 seconds against Kochetova's 87.77. Second to last competitor, Mario Deslauriers captivates the crowd's attention, but signs off with two jumping faults.