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Langley Local a Fitting Winner for Thunderbird’s Inaugural BC Open Grand Prix

May 31, 2008

Langley, BC --- Under partly sunny skies, seventeen riders participated in the inaugural BC Open Grand Prix at Thunderbird Show Park. The course, created by worldrenowned designer, Peter Holmes, offered a test of agility for entrants, with several roll back turns and combinations. Of the five riders that advanced to the jump off, the only local was former Irish Olympian, Eddie Macken, who went on to take first.

The BC Open Grand Prix demonstrated the diversity often seen in the show jumping ring. As one of very few sports where men and women compete as equals, it’s also one where the age of the competitor isn’t a factor. At almost 60, Macken continues to be a top competitor, competing, winning and training the next generation of equestrian athletes. At the other end of the spectrum, Kamloops resident, Braden James, was the youngest competitor, at only 14 years of age, to challenge the BC Open course.

Round one linked elements together in twists and turns, putting pressure on riders to find the best track for their horse. Early entrants Eberhard Bahle on Lamborghini Z and Jonathon Asslin on Lolita had rails down, making Audra Fleck-Snijders on Rainland Mel the first to post a clear round. Calgary’s Tani Ziedler, Washington’s Jennifer Crooks and Asselin on Rayana Chiara rounded out the contenders in the jump off.

First into the ring, Fleck-Snijders set a blazing time of 40.32 that left little on the table. Ziedler suffered a refusal at fence 3 and a further rail down to finish with 13 faults. Crooks and her mount, SF Shakira, were flawless, galloping towards the final fence, but finished just off the pace with a time of 40.38. While Asselin chalked up four faults and a time of 45.83, it was Macken who offered a lesson to the field, taking every inside turn and setting up his 12-year-old Belgian mare, Tedechine Sept, perfectly at each fence. His time of 39.47 was well under the time allowed of 50 seconds and almost a second faster than Snijders.

Over 800 riders and their mounts are currently at Thunderbird Show Park competing in hunter & jumper classes at the BC Open Tournament, which runs until Sunday, June 1st. The main event of the tournament is the $50,000 Warsteiner Grand Prix, which takes place on Saturday at 2pm and will bring some of the West Coast’s best talent to Langley. The West Coast Thunder Drill Team and recording artist Karen-Lee Baton, who recently released her first video on CMT, will be on hand to entertain the crowd before the event gets underway.

For more information, please visit our site at www.thunderbirdshowpark.com.

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