Call it a DeWinton double for the ages.
A partnership between horse and rider five years in the making saw DeWinton’s Tayah Sobie and the now 12-year-old Catalina ride to not one, but two event victories last week on show jumping’s biggest stage, the Spruce Meadows Masters.
“We learned together and moved up the ranks together,” Sobie said. “I was coming off my pony when I first got her. I didn’t really know what I was doing, she didn’t know what she was doing, but we figured it out together.”
My, how things have changed.
The duo didn’t waste any time climbing to the top of the heap at the Masters.
On the opening day of competition, Sept. 7, Sobie and Catalina took home the Friends of the Meadows Cup at 1.20 metres.
The pair finished the speed round ahead of the pack completing the course in the All Canada Ring in just over 60 seconds without any time faults.
“I was a little worried on my first day with (Catalina) because her weaknesses and my weaknesses were going to play a role,” she said. “There was a lot inside turns we had to make and I was really happy with how we executed them.
“She has a really big stride and that helped a lot for the speed round where it’s a longer course.”
Going for the rare double, the next afternoon Sobie threw caution to the wind in the Direct Energy Cup knowing the chance of consecutive day victories were slim to none.
A funny thing happened with expectations tossed out the window, she blew them right out of the water.
Despite qualifying with the 13th fastest time in the first round, Sobie rose to the occasion in turning in a jump off time of 37.02 seconds to secure the victory.
“That never happens that you win two days in a row, I wasn’t thinking I had the same chance and somebody else would have their day,” she said. “The jump-off really played on our strengths as I was walking the course I thought to myself ‘if we can make the jump-off I think this is going to be a good one for us.’
“She responded really well.”
It has been a banner summer for the 2015 Foothills Composite graduate.
She entered the Masters on the heels of winning performances at St. George’s Stables’ Joe Selinger Memorial Derby as well as the Horseware Ireland Junior Amateur Cup at Spruce Meadows in July.
A lot of the summer’s work goes towards preparing for its biggest event.
“You know you’re going to be against the best riders, people from all over the world,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be tough competition, tough horses, the biggest jumps of the year.
“With everything, the Masters is ten times what you’re going to expect at another show.”
Foothills competitors were all over the results tables at the Masters.
Priddis’ Ben Asselin earned a second place finish in the JLT Cup while Okotoks’ Lisa Carlsen, a Canadian Olympian in 1988, was fourth in the Friends of the Meadows Cup on Sept. 10 aboard Malbec.
Jessie Prpich of Priddis earned a pair of top-15 finishes. The young show jumper capped off the week in a seventh place showing aboard Siempre Salsa in the Friends of the Meadows Cup on Sept. 11.
Over in the International Ring, Canadian superstars jumped their way to big paycheques.
Team Canada’s Tiffany Foster, Kara Chad, Amy Millar and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Eric Lamaze combined for a third place finish in the BMO Nations’ Cup right behind first-place Switzerland and runners-up Brazil in the team event.Ireland’s Cian O’Connor was the big winner in the SUNCOR Energy Cup.
Championship Sunday saw Great Britain’s Scott Brash reign supreme in the CP International Grand Prix to take home show jumping’s richest prize, $2 million dollars.
For more information go to sprucemeadows.com
