Toronto, Ontario—Nov. 14  

“Honestly, as a rider doing this my whole life, you never think a horse like this exists,” said McLain Ward of HH Azur, who made a huge effort at the final fence to take the win in the $75,000 Big Ben Challenge at the Royal Horse Show. 

“Most horses would have fallen down at that last fence. The take-off was 15 feet away, I bet. It’s not that I was surprised she jumped it; I was just surprised how easy it was. The jump-off was exciting, which is great for the crowd.”

HH Azur made an enormous effort over the last fence to win the $75,000 Big Ben Challenge to close out the Royal Horse Show. Photo by Ben Radvanyi

Ward scored yet another victory in the $75,000 Big Ben Challenge to close out international show jumping competition at the Royal Horse Show, held as part of The 93rd Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. A total of 20 entries tried their luck over the track set by British course designer Richard Jeffery in front of a sold-out crowd in the Ricoh Coliseum. More forgiving than in previous nights’ competition, Jeffery laid a track that saw eight horse-rider combinations advance to the all-deciding jump-off.

When Ward entered the Ricoh Coliseum, Belgium’s Olivier Philippaerts held the jump-off lead with a clear round in a time of 42.03 seconds riding H&M Legend of Love. Wasting no time around the short course, Ward guided HH Azur home in a time of 40.42 seconds to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Fellow American Reed Kessler challenged Ward’s time with Cylana, but the clock told the final tale, with a time of 41.44 seconds placing her second between Ward and Philippaerts.

Ward enjoyed an exceptional week of competition at the Royal Horse Show, winning a total of four international classes—two riding HH Azur and two with his newest mount, Carneyhaugh Manx—and was awarded the title of Leading International Rider. He and HH Azur, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare (Thunder Van De Zuuthoeve x Sir Lui) owned by Double H Farm, also won Wednesday night’s $132,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Toronto. 

“The World Cup was the most difficult one we’ve seen all season, which I was excited about with this horse,” said Ward, 40, of Brewster, NY.  “I really wanted to challenge her, and what a great way to end the year!”

Runner-up Kessler was thrilled with her 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare’s performance.

“She was fantastic,” said Kessler, 21, who is based in Germany. “I’m really lucky; I have a super experienced horse and she’s really brave and really honest. She always wants to do her best, so in that respect I have it easy. They’ve been difficult courses all week by Richard; you need a horse that looks for the fence and is really brave.

“I love The Royal,” continued Kessler, who is competing at the Royal Horse Show for the second time in her young career. “It’s a super show and has great atmosphere.  They do their best for the horses and the riders here, and it’s always great to come to a show that is like that.”

With Kessler second and Philippaerts taking third, New York’s Georgina Bloomberg took fourth place. The first rider on course, Bloomberg posted a clear round in a time of 45.66 seconds riding Caleno 3. Nicola Philippaerts, twin brother to Olivier, had 4 faults in the jump-off to place fifth riding H&M Harley vd Bisschop.  

The Leading Canadian Rider Award, presented by AMJ, went to Jonathon Millar.  In an interesting twist, Martha Louise and Ariana, both owned by the Grange family, tied for the All-Canadian Cup, presented to the leading Canadian-owned horse. The award is presented by Susan Grange’s Lothlorien Farm of Cheltenham, Ontario. Grange and her rider, Conor Swail of Ireland, accepted the All-Canadian Cup.

To the delight of horse and dog lovers alike, the $15,000 Canine-Equine Challenge, presented by the Toronto Star, took center stage in Ricoh Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. Riders were paired with a ‘Superdog’, navigating the show jumping track and crossing the timers before their canine partner took off around a dog agility course. The crowd cheered for their favorites, as dogs of all breeds, shapes and sizes raced up, over and through the obstacles. 

In the end, it was Ward and Carneyhaugh Manx, his new 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, that crossed the timers with the fastest clear round for the win.