Spruce $1 Mil Youthquake
By Staff Report September 10, 2012
Olivier Philippaerts (BEL) and Cabrio Van De Heffinck (Photo courtesy of
Spruce Meadows Media Services)
At 19, Olivier Philippaerts of Belgium has become the youngest show jumper in history to win the $1 million CN International Grand Prix, Sept. 9 at the 2012 Spruce Meadows tournament in Canada. In a generational twist, his father Ludo came in third. The USA’s Beezie Madden and Simon placed second in the 1.60m contest. Thirty horse and rider combinations took to the field in the International ring in Calgary, AB, testing themselves against each other and Leopoldo Palacios’ (VEN) course.
The younger Philippaerts and 18-year-old Reed Kessler of the USA were the onlys one to make it round one’s 17 jumping obstacles with all the rails up (though Philippaerts had one time fault).
The top 12 advanced to round two and a revamped course (14 obstacles and a course reduced by 100 meters, to 480). History was made as the teenaged Philippaerts completed the two tracks with a only two faults aboard his 10 year old Warmblood gelding, Cabrio Van De Heffinck.
Ludo Philippaerts rode Challenge Van De Begijnakker. He and Madden (Cazenovia, NY) were the only two four-faulters of round 1, and finished on that score.
Slots four and five flipped between two other U.S. riders between rounds one and two, with Reed Kessler (Lexington, KY) and Cylana in the early lead with zero faults during round one, and eight for Leslie Howard (Westport, CT) and Utah. Round two saw Kessler drop two rails, while Howard went clean and slid ahead on his faster time (67.39 to 70.31).
Rider Eric Lamaze, left, is joined by Hickstead owner John Fleischhacker and artist Mary Sand in unveiling a statue of the mighty stallion. (Photo courtesy of
Spruce Meadows Media Services)
“My horse was amazing today, very fresh through each round. I feel like this is just the beginning,” Olivier Philippaerts said following the win, which netted him a cool CAN$335,000 (US$343,000). As for his plans for the winnings, Olivier told the Calgary Herald that, “Maybe we’ll try to invest in some more young horses and hopefully have a long career.”
The Herald also reported that an unusually high number of riders came unseated at Spruce during the week, including three during this class: the USA’s Richard Spooner, NED’s Jur Vrieling and GBR’s Tina Fletcher, who the paper reported was taken to the hospital for a suspected fractured ankle.
With its combined family paycheck of CAN$438,000 (US$448,000), the Philippaerts were walking on air. “It’s a dream to ride with your two sons somewhere like Spruce Meadows,” Ludo Philippaerts said. “For one of them to win the biggest competition in the world? There are no words.”
The day began with a tribute to one of the greatest show jumping horses of all time, Hickstead, the USA-owned stallion ridden to the very top of the international rankings by Canada’s Eric Lamaze.
A statue made in Hickstead’s likeness was unveiled to a capacity crowd. In a touching ceremony, Lamaze was inducted into the Spruce Meadows Hall of Fame along with his famed mount whose untimely passing in November 2011 wracked two nations with grief. The bronze, by Mary Sand, will stay permanently at Spruce Meadows as per Lamaze’s wishes.
For complete results, click here.
Short URL: https://theequestriannews.com/?p=12869