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

Ward, who went first in the jump-off, angled the fences and shaved the turns with the 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood (by Darco) but figured that Lamaze might beat him.

“I was trying to take all the risks because it was just the two of us,” said Ward, who stopped the clock in 37.76 seconds. “Obviously, Eric’s a brilliant rider, if not the best in the world. I think he’s got the best horse in the world, and he’s a very fast horse. Sapphire’s gotten faster, but I wouldn’t say she’s the fastest in the world.”

Ward believed he’d left his victory in doubt when he added a stride at one point on course.

“I thought I could do eight strides from the [Dutch] Bicycle to the gold [Hong Kong] oxer, but it didn’t show itself, and I did nine,” he said. “I thought it was a little bit slow. I remember thinking, ‘Ooh, I might maybe left the door open a touch there.’ ”

Then Lamaze, 41, Schomberg, Ont., and Hickstead entered the ring with the home crowd roaring. Hickstead’s lofty jumps, combined with his quick turns and big gallops, kept the crowd involved the entire way around. And when he cleared the nemesis Dutch bicycle fence, whose delicate top rail cost him a $450,000 bonus last year (and now sits chainsawed in half in the Spruce Meadows pub), the electric atmosphere doubled in amps.

As Lamaze and Hickstead launched over the final fence, the black CN planks, the crowd went wild. With thunderous applause, it took just a moment for all eyes to turn to the clock tower scoreboard where the ranking read: 2.

 “I think I went as fast as he can go,” said Lamaze of their 37.78-second jump-off. “It’s just that competitive.

“McLain was quite fast,” he added. “I was watching from the clock tower, and I just tried everything I could. We came up just a little short. Congratulations to McLain on a great ride. To be second in this competition feels pretty good anyway.”

Ward also credited Lamaze for a great run. “But he was nice enough to take a pull [on the reins],” said Ward, “and I’ll take it.”

The Big Guns

You bring your biggest guns to the Spruce Meadows Masters, said Ward during an interview earlier in the week, but even if you have your automatic weapon set aside for the CN it doesn’t mean you’re going to succeed.

In fact, it took a lot of talent, guts and a bit of luck to jump a clear in the first round of this year’s CN, and just 10 of the 45 starters managed to combine all of those attributes. Two more jumped clear with 1 time fault to qualify for the second round and give course designer Leopoldo Palacios his “perfect dozen.”

Other than Ward, Brewster, N.Y., no other U.S. riders qualified for Round 2.

Beezie Madden and Danny Boy, a 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood (by Clinton), dropped one rail over the first-round course to finish 16th. They were the only pair that suffered directly from the breezy conditions when the Canadian planks blew down in front of them as they approached fence 9. After the jump was reset, they continued but dropped the B element of the triple combination at fence 11.

“It actually could have been an advantage for me,” said Madden when asked about the time-out. “I have a young horse, and he had a little chance to settle down and regain his thoughts. It was a hard spot to start again, I have to say. The planks and then the green oxer and triple combination line, but I don’t think it was a huge deal. I can’t say if it hurt or if it helped.”

It was obvious that a spill from Checkmate the previous day in the BMO Nations Cup did hurt Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum’s performance in the CN. The world’s third-ranked rider and reigning FEI World Cup champion from Germany never got into sync with her top mount Shutterfly and placed 41st with an uncharacteristic 24 faults.

Lauren Hough, Wellington, Fla., had a double-clear performance in the BMO Nations Cup and led the U.S. to second place but couldn’t duplicate the effort and picked up 8 faults for 21st place.

Likewise, team member Richard Spooner, Agua Dulce, Calif., and Cristallo had 8 faults for 23rd place.

New Jersey-based Hillary Dobbs and Quincy B were 26th with 12 faults, and team rider Ashlee Bond, Santa Monica, Calif., and Cadett 7 were right behind with their own score of a dozen.

“I thought Round 1 was an excellent course,” said Ward. “It wasn’t brutal, but it was enough. It was obviously just right to get 12 [clears] plus time faults. [Course designer Palacios] has done that a few times, which I think is quite remarkable. You couldn’t make a mistake, but it wasn’t really stressing the horses.

“The horses really needed to be careful today,” added Ward. “And the time allowed was short enough. With the time in the first round deciding the order of go for the second round, it plays a lot with the strategy so everyone tries to go as fast as they can.”

Lamaze almost didn’t have to strategize for Round 2 after the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Hamlet—Ekstein) bounced a rail in the first round.

“I heard that; I think the whole crowd heard that,” said Lamaze, laughing. “He sort of jumped it as a vertical and then realized there was a back rail. It was a skinny oxer, and he fell out of the air. I was lucky to be a part of that second round from the way he hit that. Sometimes you have a light rub and it falls, and sometimes you sit on one like that, and it’s sometimes meant to be your day; that’s how I look at it anyway.”

An Olympic Rematch

With 10 first-round clears, most everyone expected a jump-off, but some began to wonder as the faults accrued rapidly in the second round.