Mill Creek Stables Dominates With $25,000 Wellington Win

Yann Candele and Mill Creek Marco Taere

Phil Henning’s Mill Creek Stables of Cambridge, ON, celebrated victory Thursday with Mill Creek Marco Taere’s win in the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series in Wellington, FL.

Held during the CSI*** Zada Enterprises LLC Wellington Masters, Mill Creek Marco Taere, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding by Darco, topped the WEF Challenge Cup with rider Yann Candele, 31.

Mill Creek’s success did not end with the victory, however. United States Equestrian Team member Megan Johnstone-Lamaze placed second riding Chardo, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Capitol I purchased from Mill Creek Stables in the summer of 2002. And, her husband, two-time Canadian Show Jumping Champion Eric Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, finished fourth in the class riding Mill Creek Raphael, the 13-year-old Hannoverian gelding by Raphael who was Lamaze’s mount at the 2002 World Equestrian Games.

With 47 competitors tackling the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup, only six were able to master the first round to advance to the jump-off. Candele, originally from Normandy, France, and now based in Schomberg, ON, posted the fastest time, edging Johnstone-Lamaze by 1.38 seconds. Placing third was Germany’s Markus Beerbaum aboard Royal Discovery while Lamaze and Mill Creek Raphael were the only other horse-rider combination to again post double clear rounds. Two American competitors, Chris Kappler riding Primeur 58 and Molly Ashe aboard Concerto, both had eight faults in the jump-off to finish fifth and sixth respectively.

For Mill Creek Marco Taere, it was not the horse’s first win at the grand prix level. In 2002, he won the $20,000 Challenge Desjardins Grand Prix during the CSI-W Blainville in July. However, his partner was Eric Lamaze who took over the ride when Candele was sidelined with an injury. Lamaze and Mill Creek Marco Taere also placed seventh in the $70,000 BP Cup at CSIO Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, AB. Under Candele, Mill Creek Marco Taere was fourth in the $35,000 George Weston International at Toronto’s Royal Horse Show in November.

“Marco Taere’s really starting to come into his own, Yann is doing a great job with him,” said Henning, who purchased the gelding as a five-year-old. “To me, it is simply incredible to be involved with three of the top four horses in Palm Beach where the best athletes in North America, if not the world, are competing. It makes me believe our program is working.”

Located in Cambridge, ON, Mill Creek Stables is one of Canada’s largest sport horse breeding and sales barns, offering prospects in a variety of disciplines to suit all budgets. For more information, please visit www.millcreekstables.com, call tel: 519 740-1121 or e-mail: phenning@millcreekstables.com



$25,000 WEF Challenge Cup, CSI*** Zada Enterprises LLC Wellington Masters
Rider Country Horse Owner

1. Yann Candele France Mill Creek Marco Taere Mill Creek Stables
2. Megan Lamaze United States Chardo Mill Creek Stables
3. Markus Beerbaum Germany Royal Discovery Mr. and Mrs. Bertram Firestone
4. Eric Lamaze Canada Mill Creek Raphael Mill Creek Stables
5. Chris Kappler United States Primeur 58 Kathy Kamine
6. Molly Ashe United States Concerto Jane F. Clark