IRELAND’s Robert Blanchette won the feature five-star Sun Life Derby on the final day of ‘North American’ week at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, Canada.

Just 16 entries came forward for the iconic class which was modified in 2022 but still follows the original design by the great Pamela Carruthers (GBR).

There is over one kilometre of track, 18 obstacles (24 jumping efforts) all to be jumped under the time allowed of 158 seconds.

And it was a class full of thrills and spills as usual. Eight countries were represented in the starting line-up, all competing for a piece of the $145,000 prize fund on offer. Blanchette was second into the arena riding Chardonnay and came home with a brilliant clear round to put the pressure on the rest of the field to follow.

Tenth to go, Canada’s Jim Ifko followed suit with Un Diamany des Forets, forcing a jump-off. Blanchette was first into the ring for the second round and he laid down the gauntlet with a clear in 39.01 seconds. Ifko also produced a brilliant round and it was nervy for the leaders, but in the end, the Canadian was six hundredths of a second slower to finish second.

Blanchette took the top prize of $47,850. Thrilled with his 12-year-old Comme Il Faut chesnut mare, who is owned by RTS LLC, he commented: “You can go to a a show and you think you’re almost invincible, and then you come here (Spruce Meadows) and you think, shoot, I can’t jump that. And then by the end of the tournament, you can jump it. I think get on your pony bareback and gallop around, jump up and down on the fields. Don’t just go to a flat ring and get to take riding lessons. Go and have fun on your horse and get to know it.”

Swail lands two-star Grand Prix

Co Down’s Conor Swail wrapped up his summer at Spruce Meadows by winning Sunday’s two-star Lafarge Grand Prix. Riding Asta Torokvei’s 12-year-old gelding Gamble, he was one of eight of the starting 35 to jump clear over the first round of Santiago Varela’s 1.45m track.

Against the clock, he was last to go and a clear round in 41.58 seconds knocked Canada’s Tiffany Foster off the top spot into second place. The victory marked 25 top three placing for Swail over the summer series at the prestigious Canadian venue.

Limerick’s Paul O’Shea was also a winner on the final day at the venue. He guided Team Eye Candy’s nine-year-old mare Dirty Girl to win the two-star 1.35m. the combination were the fastest of eight double clears in 41.59 seconds to pick up $2,500, just ahead of Australia’s Katie Laurie with Boom (0/0 41.65).

The pair were second in Wednesday’s 1.45m Table A behind Blanchette and the nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse Carnlea Premier Balou (Balout du Rouet x Cavalier Royale), bred by Premier Sport Horses and owned by RTS LLC.

Queen Elizabeth Cup

Egypt’s Nayel Nassar won the $1,000,000 1.60m ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix on Saturday while two Irish finished in the top sixth.

Thirty-five horse/rider combinations qualified for the feature class of the summer, and the top 12 placed horses would return for the second round. Seven combinations jumped clear in the first round, with a further five four-faulters joining them in the second round. Darragh Kenny produced a first round clear with Hamrah van het Exelhof but four faults in the second round saw them finish in sixth place with $45,000.

Andrew Bourns was one place ahead in fifth with the Irish Sport Horse Sea Topblue (Chacco-Blue x ), bred by John and James Meade. Despite four faults in the first round, a brilliant clear second time out secured them $60,000 in prize money. There were four clears in the second round which forced an exciting third round jump-off.

Nassar and Spain’s Sergio Alvarez Moya (Puma) were both clear against the clock, with the Egyptian almost three seconds faster with the Evergates Stables’ Coronado, previously ridden by his wife, Jennifer Gates.

The pair earned $330,000. Canada’s Mario Deslauriers completed the podium with Emerson.