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American Quentin Judge a stand out on last day of competition

The final day of the Spruce Meadows ‘National’ tournament proved to be quite a rollercoaster ride of emotions; for fans and riders alike.

In front of a packed crowd, Quentin Judge and his horse HH Dark De La Hart were crowned the winners of the CNOOC Nexen Cup Derby. Judge also went on to pick up $70,000 in prize money for his win.

During the competition, Quentin Judge and Angel Karolyi were both neck in neck in the standings and the fact both acquired a competition-low eight faults throughout the course, which led them both to compete against each other in a historic jump off. Judge prevailed while Karolyi respectively took second place.

There have only been three clean runs since this particular championship course—designed by Venezuelean Leopoldo Palacisos—was introduced back in 2007 for the Nexen Cup competition.American Quentin Judge earned his first major victory at Spruce Meadows in the CNOOC Nexen Cup Derby on June 8 by finishing the second round with a time of 45.73 seconds.  The runner up Angel Karolyi finished with a time of 49.70 seconds.

Photo by Paulina Liwski

The other equestrian riders that finished in the top five of the CNOOC Nexen Cup Derby were:

3rd – Richard Spooner (USA)

4th – Shane Sweetnam (Ireland)

5th – Christian Sorensen (Canada)

For Judge this win was special in part because of HH Dark De La Hart

“Last year here I won the Husky Cup with Derrick also, that was my biggest win to date. I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a couple Nations Cup teams for the States but this a big accomplishment and that horse is really special to me.”

This year’s Spruce Meadows Sunday events drew a record 38,962 attendees. The tournament attendance for the last five-day tournament was 87,082.

Salute to first responders

Quinn Wilson from CNOOC Nexen posing with Quentin Judge, and his horse, HH Dark De Hart, after their win at Spruce Meadows on June 8.

Photo by Paulina Liwski. Spruce Meadows also paid tribute to the first responders who risked their lives on the frontlines of the June 2013 flood last year in Southern Alberta.

The festivities included demonstrations from the K-9 unit, a high speed police car chase on the International ring and a display of day-to-day police equipment.

As well, Spruce Meadows and its corporate sponsors teamed up to show their appreciation for those first responders who put their lives on the line, by becoming honorary first responders themselves.

Together, they presented the Foothills Fire Department with a brand new water rescue truck and boat, since this department was one of the ones during the 2013 June flood that did not have this particular unit. The new water boat unit was christened with the sponsors showering the unit with water from a fire hose. 

pliwski@cjournal.ca 

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