Tatiana Dzavik Wins Seven and Eight-Year-Old Division at St. Lazare

June 3 , 2011 –St. Lazare , Quebec – The opening event in the eastern region of the 2011 Jump Canada Young Horse Series was held May 27 at Concours Hippique de St. Lazare in St. Lazare, QC.

Tatiana Dzavik of Toronto, ON, topped the Seven and Eight-Year-Old Division aboard her horse Winette, and was the only rider to cleanly negotiate the track set by renowned Canadian course designer Michel Vaillancourt. Dzavik crossed the timers in 64.60 seconds, nearly 10 seconds under the time allowed.

“I started riding Winette last year in Europe,” said Dzavik of the eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Ramon. “Someone had given her to me to ride, and I really fell in love and ended up buying her. She is a little bit of a bold horse - she is, after all, a chestnut mare, but she’s a real fighter in the ring and loves to win. I think she is going to do a lot in the future. She has a lot of scope and a lot of promise.”

The 21-year-old hopes that Winette will be ready to move up by the end of the season, saying, “She’ll do a few more of the Young Horse Series classes, and the National Final, I hope. I also plan to take her in some Talent Squad competitions and a few small grand prix classes.”

Francis Berger, Dzavik’s trainer for the past two months, has no doubt the pair will excel.

“Even though Tatiana hasn’t had the horse for very long, she rides her well and I think they have a great future ahead of them,” said Berger, who operates South Shore Farm in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC. “Tatiana is a pleasure to work with. She rides so well that she makes my job easy.”

In addition to winning the Young Horse Series competition at in St. Lazare, Dzavik also rode Lasse to victory in Jump Canada Talent Squad Series on May 27 and finished second in the $25,000 Eastwood Equine Grand Prix on May 28.

Nicolas Bayzelon and his horse Lazer HB may have had the fastest time in the Seven and Eight-Year-Old Division, stopping the clock in just 63.15 seconds, but rails down at the first element of both the double and the triple combination left the pair with eight faults and a second place finish. Lazer HB is a seven-year-old bay Luxembourg gelding bred by HB Farm in Ste-Clothilde-de-Horton, QC.

Hometown rider Angela Covert-Lawrence and Rivercross Winsome, owned and bred by Rivercross Farm in Brigham, QC, rounded out the top three. Covert-Lawrence had rails down at the fifth, ninth and tenth fences on course for a total of 12 faults. Rivercross Winsome is an eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Flemmingh and out of a Welfenleire mare.

The purpose of the Jump Canada Young Horse Series is to encourage the development of young show jumping talent and to give Canadian breeders additional incentives to breed superior show jumping prospects. Competing on a level playing field, the horses are divided according to age and jump at a level suited to their development. This careful development allows the horses to gain valuable experience and advance to the higher levels of show jumping competition with confidence. The Jump Canada Young Horse Series also gives prospective buyers for the hunter and jumper markets an opportunity to view a large group of prospects in a competition setting.

The 2011 Jump Canada Young Horse Series is truly national in scope with competitions being held from coast to coast. The National Young Horse Finals will take place at the Canadian Show Jumping Tournament held from September 21-25 in Palgrave, ON.

For more information on the Jump Canada Young Horse Series, please visit http://equinecanada.ca/jumpcanada/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=88&Itemid=3&lang=en

Concours Hippique de St. Lazare – St. Lazare, QC
Seven and Eight-Year-Old Division
	Horse	Owner	Rider
1.	Winette	Tatiana Dzavik	Tatiana Dzavik
2.	Lazer HB*	Francois Bayzelon	Nicolas Bayzelon
3.	Rivercross Winsome*	Rivercross Farm	Angela Covert-Lawrence

NOTE – The star * beside a horse’s name denotes that it is Canadian-bred.