Canada’s Tiffany Foster guided Quilea de St. Druon to victory in the €4,000 Seven-Year-Old Young Horse competition for owner Artisan Farms LLC on July 29 at CSI5* San Patrignano, Italy. Photo by Cealy Tetley, www.tetleyphoto.com

July 30, 2011 – San Patrignano, Italy – Tiffany Foster of Schomberg, Ontario, won the €4,000 Seven-Year-Old Young Horse competition held Friday, July 29, at international show jumping tournament CSI5* San Patrignano, Italy.
 
Foster guided Quilea de St. Druon to victory by jumping clear in a time of 53.71 seconds to win by a large margin over Germany’s Katrin Eckermann who stopped the timers in 56.23 seconds riding Nabab de Revel.
 
“I wasn’t sure how fast I had to go, but even if it is not a speed competition, she’s naturally fast,” said Foster of the horse owned by Artisan Farm, LLC.  “Some of the horses are in this competition to get experience, but she already has experience and is ready to win.”
 
The victory comes exactly one week after Foster and Quilea de St. Druon topped a starting field of 56 horses to win the €2,000 1.40m Prix Equidia for Seven-Year-Old Young Horses at CSI5* Chantilly, France.  Chantilly and San Patrignano are the first two European show jumping tournaments that the 27-year-old Canadian athlete has ever competed at.
 
Of the course in San Patrignano, Foster noted, “It was big!  It was bigger than anything she’s seen in North America or even last week in Chantilly, but she handled the height with no problem.  I think that’s what makes her so fast - she always jumps just as high as she has to, she knows exactly where the poles are, and she’s on to the next jump.”
 
Quilea de St. Druon is a seven-year-old selle francais mare by the prolific French sire Diamant de Semilly and out of a Florissant dam.  Purchased one year ago, the mare is owned by the Ziegler family’s Artisan Farms, LLC, and will eventually be a mount for patriarch Andy Ziegler.
 
“She’s always happy,” said Foster of the horse’s personality.  “She loves being at the shows and is always ready to win.  The trip here took 20 hours, she arrived at two in the morning, and she went out there and won this afternoon.  She is a true show horse.  She’s going to make a great horse for Andy in the future.”
 
In addition to her win with Quilea de St. Druon, Foster also jumped double clear with Victor on Friday to place eighth in the €15,000 1.40m Prix UBI Banca.  Earlier in July, Foster and Victor won the $80,000 TD Cup at the Spruce Meadows “North American” tournament in Calgary, Alberta.  A nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Victor is owned by Artisan Farms LLC in partnership with Eric Lamaze’s Torrey Pines Stable of Schomberg, Ontario.
 
Olympic Champion Lamaze, who coaches Foster, is also competing in San Patrignano, and will ride Atlete Van’t Heike, also owned by Artisan Farms LLC and Torrey Pines Stables, in Sunday’s €210,000 Grand Prix.  Last week, the pair placed fifth in the €285,000 Global Champions Tour Grand Prix at CSI5* Chantilly, FRA.
 
Following CSI5* San Patrigano, Italy, which runs until July 31, Foster will compete at CSI2* Bonheiden, Belgium, from August 5 to 7.  From there, it is on to CSI5* Valkenswaard, The Netherlands, from August 12 to 14.