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Calgary, Canada - July 6, 2006 - Unfortunately, the final international class on the second day of the Spruce Meadows 'North American' the C$50,000 1.60m Direct Energy Cup, a Table A with one jump-off experienced a rather anti-climatic conclusion. Following an earlier cloudburst, the damp, chilly evening wasn't offset by a class that raised temperatures, although it saw a popular win celebrated by Canada's Jill Henselwood and Special Ed.

Earlier, Beezie Madden had left the ring with eight and four faults respectively riding Desilvio and Authentic. The good news for Madden, however, is that she's currently leading the North American Championship with Authentic going into the final weekend. With no championship points up for grabs tomorrow (Friday), Madden will be looking ahead to Saturday's ATCO Power Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix, and Sunday's Chrysler Derby. If she maintains her lead, it will be her first victory in this series, which has been jealously guarded by Jill Henselwood over the past couple of years.

Richard Spooner, following his brilliant win in the previous class, the Pengrowth Cup, with Cristallo, suffered a breakdown in communication with Air Time following the water jump, when the 11-year-old gelding became rather uncooperative. Spooner took the only option open to him by circling the Air Time after what appeared to be a "horse malfunction". Their jumping and time faults produced a final 18-fault tally.

Cara Raether from North Palm Beach, Fla, riding Ublesco, looked as thought she might be the only U.S. representative in the jump-off until the Belgian Warmblood lowered the very last fence on the course. However, it was left to Mexico's Enrique Gonzalez to challenge Henselwood in a two-horse jump-off.

Drawn first, the Canadian chose to motor steadily around the straightforward, galloping course, which provided few opportunities for cutting corners other than one rollback going to the penultimate fence. The 12-year-old Special Ed, with whom Henselwood will be competing for Canada at next month's World Equestrian Games in Aachen, produced a textbook clear round and stopped the clock at 49.34 seconds. It was by no means an unbeatable time.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, was riding the reclaimed Leo, a horse he'd sold following last September's Spruce Meadows Masters' to local Calgary rider, Brenda Riddell, for a rumoured $500,000. After she recently broke her collarbone, it seemed a natural choice for Riddell to offer Leo's former owner the ride. Renewing their partnership, the pair were fortunate not to end their campaign when Leo seriously rattled the top rail at the first fence in the jump-off. It was a performance for survival, however, which finally ended three fences later at the second element of the double combination.

The lack of any serious challenge didn't dampen Henselwood's delight when she scooped the C$17,000 first-place check. The 44-year-old from Oxford Mills, Ontario, Henselwood made her Grand Prix debut in 1989 and has since represented Canada in the 1994 World Equestrian Games in The Hague, the 1999 Pan American Games, as well as the 1992, 2005 and 2006 World Cup finals. In the latter, last April in Kuala Lumpur, she finished 21st riding Special Ed.

In the final reckoning, Beezie Madden was the top-placed U.S. rider in fifth place with Authentic, netting her a further $3,000.

Full results: www.sprucemeadows.com

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