May 24, 2009 – Madrid, Spain – Olympic Champions Eric Lamaze and Hickstead closed out the CSI5* Madrid International Show Jumping Tournament in Spain by finishing second in the €100,000 King’s Cup on Sunday, May 24.

Earlier in the week, Lamaze and Hickstead placed second in Thursday’s €20,000 Altae Banco Privado Trophy and were again second in Saturday’s €150,000 Grand Prix of Madrid. In Sunday’s €100,000 King’s Cup, the pair was one of 10 horse-rider combinations to advance to the jump-off where they held the lead with a time of 44.47 seconds. The final challenger, Michel Robert of France riding Kronos d’Ouilly, caught the time, clocking in at 44.02 seconds to leave Lamaze in the runner-up position for the second day in a row.

“Hickstead jumped amazing both days,” said Lamaze, who earned €25,000 in prize money for Sunday’s second place finish. “He hasn’t done two big classes back-to-back like that in a long time so I would have understood if he had been a bit tired, but he came back better than ever. I think he jumped even better on Sunday than on Saturday.”

In addition to his impressive results with Hickstead, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines and Ashland Stables, Lamaze also enjoyed success with two of his developing mounts. On Thursday, Lamaze won the 1.45m jump-off competition riding Undercontract, an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Carol Sollak, as well as the 1.40m speed class riding Lord du Janlie, a 10-year-old selle francais gelding owned by Tequestrian Farms, LLC.

Madrid was the final stop on Lamaze’s European spring tour which also consisted of CSI4* Antwerpen, Belgium, CSIO4* Lummen, Belgium, and CSIO5* La Baule, France. Lamaze and his horses, including Hickstead, will now travel to Calgary, AB, to compete at Spruce Meadows beginning June 10.

“I am really looking forward to going to Spruce Meadows,” said Lamaze, 41. “Not only is it one of the best show grounds in the world, but it will be great to compete at home in front of the Canadian fans.”