Kent Farrington and Blue Angel (Spruce Meadows Media Service)

Calgary, Alberta - Kent Farrington beat a starting field of 34 entries in the $50,000 TELUS Cup 1.50m as the first event of the 'Masters'. He and Blue Angel, a 12-year-old AES mare by Luidam x Ascendant owned by Robin Parsky, were quick in 52.886 seconds for the win. Second place went to McLain Ward and HH Carlos Z in 54.482 seconds, while Pieter Devos of Belgium was just behind in third place in 54.532 seconds on Echo D.

Farrington was pleased with the way Blue Angel started out and noted that her consistency is one of her strengths. “I think I brought a nice team of horses here. This is one of the most important shows of the year; it's big money, it's great atmosphere, and it's one of the best venues in the world. I hope we have some luck for the rest of the week as well,” he said.

He was another to praise the job done in order to make competition possible today. “The footing was better than expected. Spruce Meadows is known for their staff and being able to put on great events regardless of what's not the best weather,” he noted. “I think that really showed here, how strong their team is to be able to get all the snow off the field and still have it looking amazing today. I thought the ground was quite good, and I think that's part of the level of excellence that you have here at Spruce Meadows.”

When asked if he thought he would be showing a day after the 25 centimeter (almost 10 inches) snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, Farrington laughed, “I didn't think we'd be showing (on Wednesday)! Yesterday looked pretty cold, so I was happy to stay inside. I thought, 'Today is a day for a hot chocolate and a movie!' I think the weather is going to keep getting better. That's lucky for us.”

Final Results: $50,000 TELUS Cup 1.50m
1 BLUE ANGEL: Warmblood / M / 12 Luidam x Ascendent
KENT FARRINGTON (USA), Robin Parsky: 0/52.886
2 HH CARLOS Z: Zangersheide / G / 12 Chellano Z x Voltaire
MCLAIN WARD (USA), Double H Farm: 0/54.482
3 ECHO D: Belgian Warmblood / G / 10 Orlando x Skippy II
PIETER DEVOS (BEL), Devos Stables: 0/54.532
4 FLEXIBLE: Irish bred / S / 18 Cruising x Safari
RICH FELLERS (USA), Harry & Mollie Chapman: 0/55.485
5 FOREVER D ARCO TER LINDEN: Belgian Warmblood / S / 9 Darco x Tenor Manciais
NICOLA PHILIPPAERTS (BEL), Ludo Philippaerts & Frans Lens: 0/55.693
6 MATADOR: Dutch Warmblood / S / 12 Indoctro x Corland
JAIME AZCARRAGA (MEX), Jaime Azcarraga & Family : 0/56.280
7 CALADO 2: Holstein / G / 13 Calando x Landgraf
PHILIPP WEISHAUPT (GER), Gunther Stange Steinmetz: 0/56.451
8 CHIVAS Z: Zangersheide / G / 15 Cumano x Lord Gotthard
RICHARD SPOONER (USA), Richard Spooner: 0/57.555
9 VATSON SITTE: Selle Francais / S / 9 Cardento x Chelano Z
MARIE HECART (FRA), Oriel Seus: 0/58.951
10 FIRST CLASS VAN T ECCKELGHEM: Warmblood / G / 9 Balou du Rouet x Fainschnitt
DANIEL DEUßER (GER), Stephex Stables: 1/68.261
11 QUICK STUDY: Warmblood / G / 15 Quick Star x What A Joy
LAUREN HOUGH (USA), Laurie Davies Mateo & Meredith Mateo: 1/69.312
12 ELIE VAN DE KOLMEN: Belgian Warmblood / M / 10 President x Darco
MICHAEL WHITAKER (GBR), Michael Whitaker: 2/ 71.185