Lamaze, Hickstead partnership leaps to historic show jumping medals at Beijing
Canadian team jumping silver medal squad also featured 'Captain Canada' Ian Millar
For the first time in its fabled history the lush, green, turf at Spruce Meadows remains untouched in the spring of the year.
The magnificent International Ring will not welcome the best show jumping horses and riders from around the planet to its founding 'National' tournament in this strange season when all of sport has gone silent.
"This is an interesting day for me. One I have not experienced in 45 years," lamented Spruce Meadows Vice President Ian Allison via email.
"I am sitting alone looking out at the emerald pallet that is the International Ring. There is not a course build underway, not a CBC crew laying in the complicated broadcast infrastructure, no media day, no horses, no riders. But there are memories … such memories."
WATCH | Olympics Games Replay Beijing 2008 Equestrian:
Spruce Meadows is arguably the finest show jumping venue in the world and without question a Canadian sporting treasure. In light of the fact that there will be no competition at this western jewel in 2020, Olympic Games Replay revisits some of the magic that has been nurtured there over the years.
In particular, the spotlight will fall on the Canadian equestrian results at the 2008 Olympics in the People's Republic of China. The events were held in Hong Kong and there the national show jumping team of Mac Cone, Jill Henselwood, Eric Lamaze and Ian Millar won a hard fought silver medal in the Nation's Cup competition.
WATCH | Lamaze becomes first Canadian to win individual equestrian gold:
The Canadians had to ride shorthanded in the final against the United States because Mac Cone's horse, Ole, had been injured after a solid first round and was forced to withdraw. The United States prevailed by the narrowest of margins to win gold. For the Canadians, it was a first team medal since the 1968 Olympic victory in Mexico City.
"Eight riders, eight horses, all regulars at Spruce Meadows every summer," Allison noted about the team final in 2008. "It was a special moment to reflect, in Hong Kong, on what happened here at Spruce Meadows. Perhaps Spruce Meadows had played a small role in it all."
"This horse was pure heart and desire," Lamaze said of Hickstead on a Zoom interview while reacting to news of their induction. Nearly a decade after his cherished partner's death, Lamaze still marvels at the horse's uncanny talent.
"He was truly unique and can never be re-created," Lamaze reflected.
"When a horse is that good it often has its own opinion. This was a horse who truly understood what winning is all about and ninety-nine point-nine percent of the time he entered the ring not wanting to lose."
WATCH | Lamaze heaps praise on his iconic horse Hickstead:
It was just that way at the Olympics a dozen summers ago when Lamaze and his smallish stallion went through six rounds, including a jump-off, with only one fence down to prevail in dramatic fashion over Sweden's Rolf-Goran Bengtsson and claim Canada's first gold medal in individual equestrian competition.
"From a broadcast perspective I did something that, in retrospect, was really reckless," admitted Bruce Rainnie who called the play-by-play of the thrilling medal.
Rainnie was so convinced of the quality of the athletes that he was witnessing that he threw caution to the wind and went with the magnitude of the moment.
"There was just something about the look in their eyes," he recalled. "And the rhythm they had on course. They were so in sync, I really believed there was no way they were making a mistake. On that day, Hickstead would have found a way to jump the Empire State Building if it meant gold for his rider."
In total agreement was the woman who provided analysis for the gold medal that day. Olympian Beth Underhill had long been a team-mate of Eric Lamaze's and had seen the partnership develop over the years at Spruce Meadows.
On that day, Hickstead would have found a way to jump the Empire State Building if it meant gold for his rider.- Bruce Rainnie
"Watching their performance was one of the most memorable things I have ever witnessed," Underhill said.
"Eric needed Hickstead and Hickstead needed Eric and, together, they were unbeatable. Simply put, Hickstead is the best horse I have ever seen in the world in my career. His partnership with Eric was truly in a league of its own."
Also featured this weekend will be the dramatic finale to the RBC Grand Prix of Canada from the Spruce Meadows "National" last June where Eric Lamaze was again at the centre of the narrative.
With a horse called Chacco Kid, Lamaze, who continues to battle a brain tumour, won against all the odds in a seven horse jump-off which included his friend and rival, the world's number one ranked rider, 2012 Olympic champion Steve Guerdat of Switzerland.
WATCH | Lamaze, Chacco Kid win RBC Grand Prix of Canada:
Tiffany Foster, a Canadian Olympian who was mentored by Eric Lamaze and who has been his long-time teammate and working associate, is convinced that victory last spring revealed the true measure of the rider.
"Eric has a natural instinct on a horse that I believe he was born with," Foster said via email from her training base in Florida.
"Following that emotional victory, Eric was gracious, and somewhat overcome," Ian Allison said of last year's RBC Grand Prix of Canada triumph.
"He was most appreciative of the fans, the event, the Spruce Meadows standard, and – as always – his horse."
Finally, the acknowledged legend of Canadian horse sport, Ian Millar, known simply as "Captain Canada" will be front and centre on this edition of Olympic Games Replay. Millar was part of the team that won silver at the 2008 Olympics, his first and only medal in a record ten appearances at the Games.
In addition a documentary about his extraordinary career partnered with the mighty gelding Big Ben will be aired on Saturday. "Ian Millar was uncompromising. A perfectionist," said the documentary's producer and accomplished CBC Sports broadcaster Brenda Irving.
"He was hard on himself and those he competed with and against. But at times that prickly exterior seemed to melt away when speaking about his late wife Lynn. Millar had promised her that he would stop international competition when show jumping was no longer fun. He admitted it had become a bit of a grind. True to his word, and his wife, he officially retired and left behind a lasting legacy in the equestrian community and an uncompromising pursuit of excellence."
Although for most people, the trip to Spruce Meadows this spring will be made only in spirit, the look back at these wonderful events should prove to be a slice of Canadian horse sport heaven for many equestrian fans across the country.
Looking ahead, Saturday June 13th Olympic Games Replay No. 13 will feature Olympic hockey. The Canadian women and men had both won gold medals at the home Games in Vancouver in 2010. In Sochi, Russia in 2014 they were back for more and we'll re-broadcast both of the championship matches next weekend.
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