Team Canada Claims Victory in the 2014 BMO Nations

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Sept. 13, 2014) -

Editors Note: There are two photos associated with this press release.

Team Canada today claimed victory at the 2014 BMO Nations' Cup, one of the richest Nations' Cup events in the world, with total prize money of $300,000. Despite several inches of snow that unexpectedly fell just a few days prior to the competition steadfast crowd of show jumping fans watched Team Canada jump in championship form to win at the Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament.

Equestrian stars formed eight nations' teams at the popular BMO Nations' Cup at Spruce Meadows, each with four members selected by their national federations to compete for their country. They battled over a course designed by Olympic course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela, which featured 15 jumping efforts, more than 545 metres and a time allotment of 82 seconds.

"Before the competition, I said that my expectations every time with my riders is that we're going to win, so whenever we don't, I am disappointed; but today, not so much!", said Chef d'Equipe Mark Laskin.

"Once again, this year, the BMO Nations' Cup was a great success all around and the fans witnessed breathtaking performances from all eight countries competing," said Frank Techar, Chief Operating Officer, BMO Financial Group. "We're extremely proud of our long lasting partnership with Spruce Meadows which dates back nearly 40 years."

Team Canada was led by 20 year old Ben Asselin aboard Makavoy, who delivered an impressive two clear round performance. Captain Canada, Ian Millar aboard Dixson had only one rail down in the second round. Millar's first clear round gave Canada the upper hand against the 7 other nations. Tiffany Foster aboard Tripple X III, had only one time fault in the first round and four jumping faults in the second round. With support of his fellow team members, Eric Lamaze did not show in the second round, after and eight fault finish in the first. Chef d'Equipe Mark Laskin was incredibly proud of the efforts of all of the riders from Team Canada.

2014 BMO Nations' Cup Standings

1. Canada

Chef d'Equipe Mark Laskin

Eric Lamaze

Ian Millar

Tiffany Foster

Ben Asselin

2. United States

Chef d'Equipe Robert Ridland

Leslie Howard

Lauren Hough

Beezie Madden

McLain Ward

3. Belgium

Chef d'Equipe Philippe LeJeune

Pieter Devos

Nicola Philippaerts

Olivier Philippaerts

Niels Bruynseels

About Nations' Cup

The Nations' Cup is the only competition in which nations are represented by selected teams. Teams from participating countries may consist of three or four riders, and are led by a Chef d'Equipe. Each member of each team will jump one round over a course of 12 obstacles. The best three scores from each team are added together for a first round total.

The top six teams return in reverse order of standing to jump the identical course in the second round. Again, the three best scores for each team are added to the first round total to determine the ultimate winner. In the case of equality of penalties for first place, the Chef d'Equipe selects a single team member to jump off.

About BMO and the Equestrian Community

As the founding sponsor of Spruce Meadows, BMO Financial Group has a long and proud history of supporting equestrian sport in Canada. This is the 38 ^th year that BMO has sponsored the BMO Nations' Cup at Spruce Meadows, attracting the top international show jumping teams to compete in Canada. In addition, BMO has proudly sponsored Canadian Equestrian Team member and Olympic record holder, Ian Millar, for more than 25 years.

For a tournament schedule visit the Spruce Meadows website at www.sprucemeadows.com .

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