“Now that was sport!”, exclaimed Ian Millar in the winner’s circle at Spruce Meadows this evening after defending his title in the Devon Cup. “I don’t care if you are a fan of pucks, balls, cars or horses that was real sport”, he added in accepting the champion’s cheque from Devon president Chris Seasons.
Millar, the all time career money leader at Spruce Meadows, with more than $2 million in Spruce Meadows earnings, had to work hard for it in a jump-off that featured some of the sport’s biggest names. He would not surrender the title easily even with the likes of Eric Lamaze, Mario Deslauriers, and Beezie Madden chasing hard.
Eleven riders made it to the jump-off. Seven were Canadians. Eric Lamaze and Hickstead set a very fast pace of 34.372 which for a moment seemed unbeatable. That was until Ian Millar entered the ring. Millar and In Style pushed the limit beating Lamaze’s time by over a second. Rounding out the top three was Mario Deslauriers with Paradigm.
The Friday night win for Millar, with his veteran gelding In Style, set him up nicely for the final two days of the Spruce Meadows ‘Continental’. Millar’s focus will now turn to Sunday’s $100,000 CN Performance Grand Prix. It’s one of the few events on the Spruce Meadows international calendar that the hall of fame rider from Perth, Ontario has yet to win in his incredible career.
The CN Performance Grand Prix is the second leg of the CN Precision Series and American Lauren Hough is in play for a $50,000 bonus.
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