News

Paradigm Sets The Standard At CN Wellington Open CSIO

"Oh Canada" could have been the theme song for the CN Wellington Open CSIO, as the Canadian team topped the $75,000 CN Nations Cup, and then Canadian Mario Deslauriers polished off the week, March 7-11, by winning the $150,000 CN U.S. Open Jumper Championship in Wellington, Fla.

"We're all very well-mounted now, and sometimes you get on a streak. After winning the Nations Cup at [the Spruce Meadows Masters last year in September], everybody in Canada is really up and feeling good about our team again," said Deslauriers.

Deslauriers was certainly in a good mood after contributing a four-fault and clean round to the winning Nations Cup effort and then topping a three-horse jump-off to win the grand prix, both aboard Paradigm. It was an interesting jump-off for the grand prix, as the slippery footing in the Internationale Arena slowed the riders down a bit. Jose "Pepe" Gamarra's course had whittled the 39-horse field down to three--Deslauriers on Paradign, Todd Minikus on Pavarotti, and Rodrigo Pessoa on Coeur.

Minikus had the unenviable task of going first in the jump-off.

"It's not like I had slow and slower following me," he said laughing. "I was a little slow to the second fence, and then he slippped so badly turning back to the third fence. My horse did an amazing job. He felt like he left the ground from his knees at the vertical. I did eight [strides to the CN vertical], and Mario left one out there. It's not normally my style to be a little cautious, but I was hoping they'd make mistakes."

All of the rails were in the cups when the scoreboard flashed Minikus' time of 47.59 seconds, setting the pace.

Pessoa galloped into the ring on the tall, lanky Coeur, owned by Hunter Harrison, the CEO and president of sponsor Canadian National Railway. Pessoa has only shown Coeur for a few weeks, after Harrison's daugter, Cayce Harrison, decided to concentrate on her education, and Coeur recovered from an injury last year.

"Coeur is a little bit of a slow horse with a big jump, and the conditions today, with the slippery turns, you had to be cautious," said Pessoa.

He might have been cautious, but Pessoa was also fast. Coeur's big gallop carried them to a 46.98-second time, but the big gray just caught the back rail of the last oxer, bringing it down.

"For me, the only place to make up time was in the last line, because it was a straight line. I thought it was possible to do the seven [strides], and I got a little big surprised by how big his stride is. I landed off the vertical and asked for the seven, and he really responded well. I got three even in a short seven, and he didn't have time to pick up behind and clear it. Slowly we're getting to know each other."

Deslauriers and Paradign made quick work of the jump-off course, though Deslauriers chose to do an outside turn after the CN vertical, where Pessoa had gone inside.

"I watched Rodrigo go, and his horse is a little slow-going but a big mover, so I tried to stay on the same track as he did. He went inside after the CN vertical, but I had left a stride out to t he CN vertical, so there was no way for me to turn inside," he said.

"I tried to keep going forward out of the turn," he added. "My horse is quick, and the first three fences were very quick for me. I knew I was close."

He was indeed close--a little more than half a second faster than Minikus at 47.03 seconds to take the win.

Riders didn't have just the course and jumps to contend with--they had to factor in the footing. The traditional grass footing in the Internationale Arena had deteriorated over the previous six weeks of showing, and show officials had spread sand around the ring. Riders complained that this made the surface worse, rather than improving it.

"This was the most difficult track we've had to jump this season so far. The condition of the ground played a big role in horses having fences down," Pessoa noted. "Today the course was tough, but I think that under normal conditions, you could have seen eight or nine clear. It was well built. The builder did a good job knowing the conditions the horses had to jump in."

Todd Minikus and Pavarotti came up just fractions short in the $150,000 CN U.S. Open Jumper Championship and finished second as the top U.S. combination.