Sapphire Finds Her Just Reward In The CN At The Spruce Meadows Masters

McLain Ward had set his sights on winning North America’s richest grand prix with his star mare, and he succeeded.

It was just the blink of an eye—but it was enough.

And in the .02 seconds that separated Sapphire and McLain Ward from Eric Lamaze and Hickstead in the jump-off for the $928,501 CN International, that blink meant a lot, literally and figuratively.

In dollars, it was the difference between $301,763 and $185,700. Each of the two ticks of the clock cost Lamaze $58,031 apiece. In prestige, however, winning the CN is almost incalculable because over the course of the event’s 29-year history only the world’s best riders have hoisted the impressive globe-shaped CN Trophy overhead during the awards ceremony. 

Now, Ward, 34, adds his name to the coveted list.

This year he traveled to the Calgary, Alta., venue meaning business. Being a non-championship year—in between the 2008 Olympic Games and the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games—the Spruce Meadows Masters, Sept. 9-13, was the world’s show jumping destination event.

Consequently, the CN drew a star-studded field, including multiple Olympic team and individual gold medalists, World Cup and European champions, and eight of the top 10 riders on the FEI Rolex Rankings.

So it was no surprise that with nearly $1 million at stake, a jump-off ensued in the two-round CN International with Lamaze, the world’s second-ranked rider and reigning individual Olympic champion, going head-to-head with Ward, the fifth-ranked rider and Olympic team gold medalist.

The result: a heart-stopping tie-breaker before an all-time record crowd of 73,736 show jumping fans basking in the late summer sun and watching world-class show jumping.