Dream Start for McVean

Dream Start for McVean

Katie McVean has had a dream start to her offshore World Equestrian Games bid winning a $25,000 grand prix in Canada this afternoon (NZ time).

McVean (Mystery Creek) and Dunstan Delphi headed home a 21-strong field to take the honours and the $8000 (CAN) winner's cheque at the Bow Valley Classic in Calgary.

The combination was the second of six to go through to the jump-off where they came home two seconds clear of the rest of the pack.

“That first one out was pretty fast, but Delphi was just awesome and she loved being able to go fast.”

The 23-year-old was ecstatic with the win, which came on the back of a fourth placing in the 1.4m class on the opening day of the show after picking up a time fault in the first round of the $10,000 class.

“That probably set her up nicely for the grand prix,” says McVean.

Delphi and McVean left New Zealand in early May in an effort to secure a berth in the New Zealand team for the World Games in Kentucky in September. The mare travelled extremely well and the Calgary show was her first outing since landing in North America. The last time she competed was at the Kelt Capital Horse of the Year Show in Hastings in March where they won the coveted Bell Tea Olympic Cup as showjumper of the year.

The McVean family opted to fly the horse straight to Calgary, rather than trucking her up from California, and it has paid off.

“We couldn't have asked for a better start to our Canadian adventure,” she said.

Dad Jeff said he was over the moon with the win, but both of them knew the fields at Spruce Meadows in a couple of weeks will be “ten time tougher”.

“She's a great mare – careful, scopey and fast,” he said. “It's a brilliant start.”

The combination will next start in the five star National Tournament, running June 9-13, followed by the four star Continental Tournament from June 17-20, then the four star Canada One from July 1-4 and finally the five star North American from July 7-11.

ENDS

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