Kyle King and Quigley (Spruce Meadows Media Service)

Calgary, Alberta - In the largest starting field in memory for the ATCO Electric 'Circuit' Six Bar competition, 23 horses and riders attempted one of the most popular events at the Spruce Meadows 'Masters'. Excelling through five rounds of competition, the final two riders settled for a tie for first place when both had a refusal at the final jump in a row, an imposing vertical standing at 2.14m, which would have been a competition record. To reward the riders who participated, the prize money for the competition was increased by $50,000 to $125,000.

Kyle King and Quigley, an 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Quidams Rubin x Argentinus owned by Paul Politeski, went first in the final round. Second to go was Olivier Philippaerts and Faustino de Tili, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion by Berlin x Darco owned by De Liebri BVBA.

Both King and Philippaerts wanted to give their best for the hardy crowd that stayed to cheer them on during the cold and rainy weather. “He wasn't going to quit, so neither was I,” King said.

This was the first six bar for Quigley and only the second that King has done. “My horse is very spooky in general,” he revealed. “This is our second year coming to Spruce. He struggles a little bit in the evening with the shadows. I was a little concerned. I thought if I could get through it the first time, the horse has amazing ability, it would be great. I was really happy to spend that amount of time in the International Ring. I think it was very good for my horse.”

Philippaerts has ridden Faustino de Tili in two previous six bar competitions in Belgium and jumped 2.14m before but faulted at the fence. “I expected it to be very big at the end. When it comes to 2.14m, you never know what the horse is going to do. He tried very hard the rest of the time,” he said.

Going for the record was something both riders wanted to accomplish. Philippaerts noted, “I think they were improving every round of jumping. When I jumped it, I was hoping not to jump another round because it got really big. But then he jumped a clear and I said, 'We'll try once more.' It would be nice to break the record, so we gave it a try,” he remarked.