McCaw MVNZ on winning streak at Spruce Meadows

Katie Laurie (AUS) and McCaw MVNZ - First Place in the Francis Family Cup in the International Ring after winning the ATCO Challenge during the week of the Spruce Meadows 'National' two weeks prior.

International Ring

Friday of the Spruce Meadows 'North American', presented by Rolex, started with a victory by Katie Laurie in the International Ring. The Francis Family Cup, a 3* competition, was her second win with her 10-year old gelding McCaw MVNZ at the 2021 Spruce Meadows September Series.

The course was designed by FEI course designer Joey Rycroft (CAN), and it featured 11 obstacles (14 jumping efforts). A large percentage of riders qualified for the jump-off. The jump-off had a time allowed of 48 seconds over a 300m track, and it required riders to really press for a quick time in order to finish at the top of the leaderboard. Laurie's clean round and time of 37.29 seconds launched her into first place, where she managed to hold down her position for the remainder of the jump-off as none of the other riders were able to match her time.

Photo Credit: Spruce Meadows

National Ring

Katie Laurie (AUS) Claims Victory Aboard McCaw MVNZ in the ATCO Challenge. The third day of the Spruce Meadows 'National' CSI5*, presented by Rolex, opened with the aptly named ATCO Challenge on the International Ring. Out of the twenty-two horse/rider combinations that started in today's competition, only 6 advanced to the jump-off.

The course, designed by FEI course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio (USA), featured 11 obstacles (13 jumping efforts) and a time allowed of 73 seconds. It proved to be a trickier track than the courses of the previous two days, with D'Ambrosio beginning to slowly turn up the heat as we entered the third day of the tournament. The ATCO Challenge was also the first course of the week to feature the open water obstacle, though D'Ambrosio utilized the smaller of the two open water features available to him in the International Ring.

Notable names in the jump-off included Tiffany Foster (CAN) and former world #1 ranked rider Kent Farrington (USA), though in the end it was Australian Olympian Katie Laurie who claimed first place with a fast jump-off time of 39.68 seconds. This was Laurie's first ever win in the International Ring, leaving her with a taste of what a victory in this historic ring feels like and excitement for what the remainder of the September Series has in store for her and her horses.