St. Lazare, Quebec – Beth Underhill claimed the $25,000 Grand Prix of St. Lazare while local favourite Angela Lawrence won the $5,000 Speed Derby during the Pépinière and St. Lazare Horse Shows held May 14 to 18 and May 21 to 25 in St. Lazare, Quebec.

For Saturday afternoon’s Grand Prix, a total of eight competitors were clear from the 21-horse starting field to advance to the jump-off over the course designed by 1976 Olympic Silver Medalist Michel Vaillancourt. The crowd was treated to an exciting jump-off as the times became faster and faster. As the second-to-last challenger, Underhill galloped down to the final obstacle and left out a stride to steal the lead from Jay Hayes. When the final competitor, Kelly Soleau of the United States, had a rail, victory and the $8,000 winner’s cheque went to Underhill.

“As luck would have it, we were second last in the jump-off, which was good because it turned out to be a very fast jump-off,” explained Underhill, who had not competed at the venue in 20 years and praised both the organizing committee and the grand prix ring’s natural footing. “There was an option to leave out a stride in the last line and, with the advantage of going later, you knew it was necessary in order to win.”

Underhill of Schomberg, ON, was riding her long-time grand prix partner Magdaline, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare owned by Darryl B. Williams.

“It was one of her fastest rounds, and she pulled out all the stops as only ‘Maggie’ can do when she is on form,” praised Underhill. “I knew that she wanted to win, and it was one of those rounds where all the jumps just came up perfectly out of stride. ‘Maggie’ was very happy after the class. You can always read her character, and she was quite proud. It was a fun class.”

Underhill’s 1992 Barcelona Olympic team mate Jay Hayes took second place riding Livarot, an 11-year-old horse that was bred in Quebec. Third place went to Lauren Hunkin of Perth, ON, riding Larry while Jonathon Millar, son of eight-time Olympian Ian Millar, rode to fourth place with Romanov, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding sired by Ahorn, the same father as Underhill’s mount. Quebec’s Melissa Marcotte, 24, of St-Nicholas rounded out the top five with a double clear effort from Callida.

On Sunday, St. Lazare’s own Angela Lawrence won the $5,000 Val Wagner Memorial Speed Derby riding Miss America for owner Marlee Dichter. The Pépinière and St. Lazare Horse Shows also featured the ‘Jump for Hope’ Breast Cancer Survivors Ride and the Third Annual Royal Victoria Hospital Gala on May 24. All attendees of the sold-out Gala had the opportunity to inspect the obstacles for the Grand Prix through a guided course walk with course designer Michel Vaillancourt, Individual Silver Medalist at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

For more information on the Pépinière and St. Lazare Horse Shows, please visit www.pepinierehorseshow.com.

Rider Hometown Horse Score
1. Beth Underhill Schomberg, ON Magdaline 0:0
2. Jay Hayes Orangeville, ON Livarot 0:0
3. Lauren Hunkin Perth, ON Larry 0:0
4. Jonathon Millar Perth, ON Romanov 0:0
5. Melissa Marcotte St-Nicholas, QC Callida 0:0
6. Amy Millar Perth, ON Piccobello du Val de Geer 0:4
7. Kelly Soleau United States Masterman 0:4
8. Paul Halpern Russell, ON Rolls Royce 0:8