Scott Brash lands the Rolex Grand Slam this evening in Calgary
Sunday 13 September 2015
World No.1 Scott Brash from Peebleshire made history this evening when he won the €1m Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping at Spruce Meadows in Calgary.
The huge payout is offered to any rider who manages to crack the challenge set by Rolex of winning the three consecutive Major Grand Prix’s held at Geneva, Aachen and Spruce Meadows.
Landing the Grand Slam has secured Scott and GBR a place in history as being the first to achieve what many have considered to be impossible. Their win was all the more notable as Scott won all three with Hello Sanctos, the tremendous bay gelding owned by Lady Kirkham and Lord & Lady Harris, on whom he won Team Gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Notching up their first win in Geneva at the end of last year, it was this summer when things really heated up following their second victory at Aachen. This evening, under terrific pressure, they landed the ‘treble’ at the Spruce Meadows Masters having focused on and worked towards it since the beginning of the year.
Having jumped the fastest clear of the ten achieved in the first round Scott found himself in the enviable position of being last to go as they came forward for the second round. If anyone assumed that jumping clear in the first round would give you a good chance of jumping clear in the second, then they were very quickly given a rude awakening. The course required not only big jumping horses to tackle it but also horse and rider combinations that could cope with the technical questions being asked of them.
It was only two competitors that managed to leave all fences standing, however a tight time allowed of 72 seconds saw both pick up a time penalty apiece. Entering the arena as the last rider of the competition, Scott knew nothing other than a forward going clear would land him the dream on which he had focused for so many months. And once again, with the horse he describes as ‘a horse of a lifetime’, he delivered!
Talking afterwards Scott commented “I can't really describe it - it's an incredible feeling, it's what we've dreamed of since the start of the year and we've really worked towards it. It's great when you really put all your time and effort into something and it all pays off - that is a great feeling. I'm chuffed to bits for the horse as well, because hopefully he'll get the recognition that he deserves, he's just a wonderful, wonderful horse.
“It's a great feeling and I'll probably go throughout my whole life and never be in this position again, so I should definitely cherish it while I have it."
Peter Devos with Dylano for Belgium and Brazilian rider Pedro Veniss with Quabri de Lisle took 2nd and 3rd place respectively. They had been seen discussing the possibility of a 3rd round jump off course if any of the riders after them hadn’t produced a clear. However, Scott drew a line under the need for this when he once again proved why he has held onto the World No.1 slot for the length of time that he has by bringing the competition to an abrupt close and securing this landmark win as his own.
A phenomenal achievement for Scott Brash, owners Lady Kirkham and Lord & Lady Harris and the rest of the support team.
For full results visit http://www.sprucemeadows.com/tournaments/media/1442185625848_818.pdf
