Mac Cone Named 2009 Canadian Show Jumping Champion

Toronto, Ontario—Mac Cone of King City, ON, claimed the 2009 Canadian Show Jumping Championship on November 7 at The Royal Horse Show in Toronto, ON.  The 10-day international equestrian competition is held as part of 87th edition of The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair from November 6–15 in Toronto, ON.

 The Canadian Show Jumping Championship, presented by Greenhawk, opened The Royal Horse Show on Friday evening with a $25,000 speed phase, and riders carried their scores forward to Saturday's two-round final.  After a faultless performance on Friday night with his 2008 Olympic team silver medal partner, Ole, Cone sat atop the leader board coming into Saturday’s final.  There, Cone and Ole, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Sara Houstoun and Larry Evoy, were the only horse-rider combination to post two clear rounds.  In a dominant win, Cone won the Canadian Show Jumping Championship title with a perfect score of zero faults.

“The courses were just tough enough and the times were tight,” said Cone, who also won the title in 1998 riding Elute, his 1996 Olympic partner.  “After three rounds of competition, my horse was jumping great.  It feels super to be Canadian Champion again, and I am just really proud of my horse.”

The 2005 Canadian Champion, Jill Henselwood of Oxford Mills, ON, and Bottom Line, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare owned Bradon Construction and Brad Pranther, finished as Reserve Canadian Champion.  The pair was sitting in 10th spot with 3.57 faults following Friday’s opening round, but returned to the Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday night to add only one time fault to their score.

Third place went to nine-time Olympian Ian Millar of Perth, ON, with a final score of 5.33 riding Redefin, an 11-year-old grey Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Susan Grange and Lothlorien Farm. 

Amy Millar of Perth, ON, and her long-time partner, Costa Rica Z, a 14-year-old Holsteiner mare owned by Mathews and Millar Brooke Farm, finished in fourth spot with 6.56 while the 2008 defending champions, Keean White of Rockwood, ON, and the nine-year-old Holsteiner mare Celena Z, owned by Ashland Group and Angelstone Farms, took fifth place.  Beth Underhill Schomberg, ON, and Top Gun rounded out the top six.

As the top two finishers in the Canadian Championship not already qualified based on their world ranking, Mac Cone and Amy Millar will move forward to the international division of The Royal Horse Show which opens on Tuesday, November 10.  They join fellow Canadians Ian Millar, Jill Henselwood, Keean White, Beth Underhill, Yann Candele and John Anderson.

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