May 17, 2006 – Palgrave, Ontario – The Canadian show jumping season officially kicked off with the 'Classic @ Palgrave Phase I' held May 10-14 at the Caledon Equestrian Park in Palgrave, Ontario, just north of Toronto.

 

The Classic @ Palgrave may not be the first hunter/jumper event on the 2006 Canadian calendar, but it is certainly the largest, this year attracting over 1,000 horses and all of the biggest names.

 

Wet weather conditions had plagued the competition early in the week, but the rain held off for Sunday's $50,000 Classic @ Palgrave Grand Prix.  Twenty horses answered the call to the post, attempting to jump clear over the track set by course designer Pierre Jolicoeur.  Eight achieved their goal of advancing to the jump-off - Yann Candele, Ian Millar and Chris Pratt, all with two horses each, along with Erynn Ballard and Margie Gayford.

 

Millar and Nero were the pathfinders, making very tidy work of the jump-off course in a time of 33.41 seconds.  Yann Candele and Dutch gave it a try, but a tight turn left a rail in the mud.  Chris Pratt and Mustique, the mare that jumped double clear rounds for the victorious Canadian Team in the Wellington Nations' Cup, left the rails in the cups but couldn't touch the time.

 

The crowd then watched in awe as 'The Flying Frenchman' returned to the ring with Tyra, stopping the timers at 33.29 seconds to overtake the lead.

 

Gayford and the loveable Stuntman then had eight faults to end their bid, while Ballard was fast, but not fast enough, clocking in at 34.16 seconds with the grey gelding, Paradigm.  Millar and his Athens Olympic mount, Promise Me, weren't able to catch the leader while the final challenger, Pratt riding Rivendell, attempted a short cut that resulted in a refusal.

 

And so, in the blink of an eye, it was a Frenchman who claimed the first major Grand Prix victory of the Canadian season.

 

"The course in the first round was really fair and the time allowed was short enough but, for whatever reason, the horses were jumping pretty well and eight went into the jump-off," recalled Candele.  "I was second in with Dutch.  I saw that Ian had been very fast, but there was one option that he didn't take so I tried it, but we had the rail down and ended up sixth.  With Tyra, I decided to take the same route that Ian had taken and just tried to go faster.  There were still four more to come, and I thought Chris Pratt was ahead on the time, but then he ran into trouble.  It was a very fast jump-off; there was only a blink between Ian and myself.  It is always difficult to win, no matter where you are competing."

 

Candele has been riding Tyra, a 1996 bay Belgian Warmblood mare, for American owner Ashland Stables for the past year and a half.  In March, Candele rode Tyra in the Wellington Nations' Cup, contributing to France's third place finish with scores of 1 and 8.

 

"Tyra was very solid and she jumped very, very well," praised Candele.  "She is really coming along."

 

Candele considers Tyra to be his top horse, along with two other experienced grand prix mounts, Mill Creek Marco Taere, a 1994 chestnut Belgian Warmblood gelding by Darco, and Windhaven's Dutch, a 1994 Dutch Warmblood gelding by Granville.  In addition, he also has two developing horses, Veritia and Sun, both owned by Ashland Stables.  In the $10,000 Modified Grand Prix held earlier in the week at Palgrave, Veritia, a 1998 grey Belgian Warmblood mare by Clinton, finished second while the seven-year-old Sun placed fourth.

 

"I have a good string that includes three horses with experience, Mill Creek Marco Taere and Dutch who are both 12 and have a lot of experience at Grand Prix, and Tyra who I consider to be my top horse," Candele explains.  "Then I have two horses coming up in Veritia and Sun, as well as some speed horses like Peter Pan.  I am pretty pleased with the horses I have right now.  I am well-equipped and have a great group of owners."

 

Candele will compete again this week at Palgrave in the Caledon National from May 17 to 21 before heading out to Spruce Meadows in Calgary with five horses in tow for the CSI5* "National" and the CSI4* and CSI-W "Continental" Tournaments held the first two weeks of June.  Then it is back east to contest the 'Quebec circuit' consisting of CSI-W Blainville, the Capital Classic Show Jumping Tournament in Ottawa, and CSI-W Bromont.  "Nothing is finalized, but if the horses do well, I would like to try to do some indoor shows in Europe this fall," Candele adds.

 

Just how did the French rider end up so far from home?  In 1999, a two-week visit with Canadian Equestrian Team member Eric Lamaze turned into a full-time job of coaching, riding and training at the Canadian Show Jumping Champion’s Torrey Pines Stables in Schomberg, Ontario.  And although Candele has enjoyed a very successful career competing on the Canadian circuit - results that enabled him to make his Nations’ Cup debut riding for France at the Spruce Meadows "Masters" Tournament in 2001 and compete at the 2004 World Cup Final in Milan, Italy - he continues to represent his home country, despite being granted landed immigrant status in Canada last fall.

 

In his time away from the show ring, Candele is kept very busy as the father of two young sons.  He and Jennifer Wallace celebrated the arrival of their fist son, Alexandre, in August of 2003 while Tate followed in October of 2005.  There are two other passions Candele has developed while living in Canada - one is for golf while the other is for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Here's betting that Candele wins a few more Grand Prix events before the Leafs advance to the play-offs . . .