A young equestrian from Chase rode to victory in her division at the 2016 Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) in Parker, Colo. on July 31.
The CH-J 1* (18 and under) division saw 18-year-old Carmen Holmes-Smith, take individual gold after a fault-free performance in the final jumping phase.
Partnered with Spartacus, an 11-year-old gelding owned by Ali Holmes-Smith, she also finished with a dressage score of 45.9, having put in a clear cross-country performance on July 30.
Holmes-Smith was in a three-way tie with Americans Haley Rosenberg and Haley Curry after cross-country.
Although Rosenburg also had a clear jumping performance, Holmes-Smith’s impressive time on cross-country, finishing two seconds under the optimum time, is what clinched her gold medal.
“I wasn’t expecting (the gold medal) at all; it was definitely surprising and I wouldn’t trade the moment for the world,” Holmes-Smith said. “I think my dad competed at Young Riders five times. It’s a really great feeling for it to come back around, and especially for me to medal. It was amazing to hear the Canadian anthem and be on the podium.”
Canada also had an impressive finish in the CH-J 1* team standings. The Ontario Junior Eventing Team, featuring Annick Niemuller from Goodwood, Ont., Ailsa Morrison of Belle River, Ont., and Alexis Murray from Barrie, Ont. finished just outside of the medals in fourth place. Their team total score of 181.8 was just 0.3 points off the score of bronze medalists, US Area VI who finished with 181.5 penalties.