Ian Millar laughed as he recalled that when he walked up to the in-gate to jump his second round in the $75,000 CN Nations Cup, teammate Eric Lamaze told him he could relax.

“I’d watched the U.S. riders put in clean rounds, and the British and Irish were just jumping great and were ahead,” Lamaze said sheepishly.  “It kind of felt like we were out of it.”

Millar, the anchor of the Canadian team for decades, felt the pressure lift off his shoulders.  But as soon as Chef d’Equipe Torchy Millar spoke to him, things changed.  “He came up just as I was about to go in and said ‘If you go clean and Darragh [Kerins of Ireland] has a rail, we’ll win!’  All of a sudden, it wasn’t such an easy night anymore,” Millar said.

As he has so many times in the past, Millar jumped a clean round—his second of the evening on In Style.  That put all the pressure of the night on Kerins, who must have used up all his Irish luck.  His Night Train toppled a rail off a liverpool vertical, bringing the Irish total to 16 and tying them with Great Britain for second place. 

The Canadians came out on top, adding emphasis to their 2008 Olympic Games team silver medal.  When asked what the secret of Team Canada’s recent strings of successes is, Torchy joked “We don’t have a program–we have Ian and Eric!”

What A Party
More than 8,000 spectators—a record for the facility—packed the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla., on Feb. 27. They even had to park spectators in the Grand Hunter Ring. 

Over the years, the event has developed into quite a rowdy evening, with fans of different countries packing various areas of the stands and making their support known in loud and boisterous ways.  The Irish fans took over the ringside Tiki Bar, hanging signs that declared it the Irish Embassy for the evening.  The Canadians responded with their own half-naked, body-painted section.  The night has an electric atmosphere, punctuated by the occasional streaker through the ring brandishing their flag of choice.

The U.S. team finished out of the running in fourth in the Nations Cup—Lauren Hough was the only U.S. team member to put together a clear round, though she had two of them.  “We didn’t have any really high scores, we just had a lot of 4s and 8s,” she said. 

Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui were last-minute replacements on the U.S. team for Todd Minikus and Pavarotti.  Just hours before the class, Minikus learned that his mother had been involved in an accident, and he rushed off to be with her.  By the end of the night, Hough reported that Minikus’ mother seemed to be well.

Equipment Malfunction
None of the top three teams avoided drama.  In the first round, reigning Olympic gold medalists Lamaze and Hickstead shocked the crowd when they stopped at a triple combination.  It turns out that Hickstead’s noseband had broken over one of the earlier fences.  “Yeah, we had a bit of a low year last year and couldn’t afford a new bridle,” Lamaze joked with a twinkle in his eye.  In all seriousness, he added, “I knew that something had broken, because I could see it flapping, but I didn’t know what it was.

“The noseband was swinging around and whacking him in the eye.  He’s a very sensitive horse, and he definitely didn’t like what was going on.  We came out of the corner, and he was flustered and stopped.  I took a moment, circled, and went back.  He’s such a great horse that he said ‘OK, I got it,’ and went on and finished.”  Lamaze—with a replacement noseband—returned to jump clear with just 1 time fault again in Round 2.

The British returned for Round 2 without Nick Skelton and Transmission, who had posted a clear round in Round 1. “We were a bit unlucky,” said Peter Charles, who rode Murka’s Pomme D’Ami to a double-clear performance.  “There was a problem with Nick’s horse after the first round, and he couldn’t come back.  He would have been a clear or four-fault round for sure.”  Team rookie James Billington had to take up the slack on the borrowed Midnight Lady and just couldn’t keep the rails up, leaving the British to settle for the tie for second.

$75,000 CN Wellington Nations Cup

1. CANADA

Keean White/Celena Z    8/-

Yann Candele/Mustique     0/8

Eric Lamaze/Hickstead     6/1

Ian Millar/In Style            0/0

TOTAL  15

 
2T. IRELAND

Kevin Babington/Souvenir     0/4

Shane Sweetnam/Amaretto d’Arco   0/4

Richie Moloney/Triviant       13/-

Darragh Kerins/Night Train    4/4

TOTAL  16

 
2T. GREAT BRITAIN

Peter Charles/Marke’s Pomme D’Ami   0/0

James Billington/Midnight Lady     12/12

Nick Skelton/Transmission              0/-

Ben Maher/Robin Hood W                4/0

TOTAL  16

 
4. UNITED STATES

Lauren Hough/Quick Study     0/0

Christine McCrea/Vegas           8/4

Laura Kraut/Cedric                    4/4

Kent Farrington/Up Chiqui      8/-

TOTAL  20

5. ARGENTINA

Martin Mallo/Magnus Romeo       2/1

Ezequiel Peralta/Allain Z              13/15

Jorge Zamudio/Phelox                  8/4

Max Amaya/Ademain                  8/-

TOTAL  38

6. VENEZUELA

Andres Rodriguez/Secret             4/12

Angel Karolyi/Sun God                 12/4

Alejandro Karolyi/Mississippi LS    18/-

Pablo Barrios/Lagran                     0/8

TOTAL 40

7. FRANCE

Marie Hecart/Ronaldo          4

Yannick Patron/Clayton     16

Kevin Staut/Ali 0267      24

TOTAL  44

8. MEXICO

Manuel Lecuona/Bronte Primera VDL   16

Javier Berganza/Von der Graaf        13

Juan Carlos Perez/Marvella AR Park     20

Jorge Versuyvel/Adventure LS    17

TOTAL  66