Calgary native Tamie Phillips and her horse Starlet stole the show at last night’s Simplot Canada Cup Gambler’s Choice event, trotting away with a first place ribbon and nearly two grand in cash.
“She liked it in there,” Phillips said after the event, which took place as part of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair’s evening entertainment.
“She was super. She gets lots of cookies tonight.”
The Gambler’s Choice event allows riders to create their own combination of jumps as they move around the track trying to attempt high scoring jumps.
Phillips said she was unsure about how Starlet would perform at the Keystone Centre last night.
“For the last couple weeks, we weren’t showing well, so I was a little worried. I had planned a harder track ... but I decided to play it safe and stay clean.”
Phillips and Starlet jumped for 830 points, just nudging out Monday night’s Dog and Horse Relay winner Gary Brewster and his gelding Vertigo.
Brewster decided not to take a chance at the most difficult jump, the Joker’s fence which was worth 200 points.
But Phillips had nothing to lose.
“We had to gamble at the Joker’s fence. It’s always a risk. Just before the jump I was thinking ‘Oh please let this work’.”
Brandon is the first leg of the Kubota Cup, which will continue on through the summer. After Brandon, Phillips plans to spend a little time back home before taking part in more competitions in Calgary and Vancouver. But she said the Wheat City offers a wonderful course.
“This is such a fun course to come to. It will definitely be a regular stop for me.”
For Brewster, the $1,600 in prize money made the second place finish quite palatable.
“The Gambler’s Choice lived up to its name,” Brewster said. “Tamie called my bluff, and it worked. But second place buys a lot of carrots.” |
