Eric Lamaze and Hickstead second twice in Madrid

Olympic champion Eric Lamaze enjoyed victory Thursday at CSI5* Madrid, Spain, riding Undercontract. Photo by Kenneth Kraus Olympic champions Eric Lamaze of Schomberg and Hickstead closed out the CSI5* Madrid International Show Jumping Tournament in Spain by finishing second in the 100,000-Euro King's Cup Sunday.

Earlier in the week, Lamaze and Hickstead placed second in Thursday's 20,000-Euro Altae Banco Privado Trophy and were again second in Saturday's 150,000-Euro Grand Prix of Madrid.

In Sunday's 100,000- Euro King's Cup, the pair was one of 10 horse-rider combinations to advance to the jump-off, where they held the lead with a time of 44.47 seconds. The final challenger, Michel Robert of France riding Kronos d'Ouilly, caught the time, clocking in at 44.02 seconds to leave Lamaze in the runner-up position for the second day in a row.

"Hickstead jumped amazing both days," said Lamaze, who earned 25,000 euros in prize money for Sunday's second place finish. "He hasn't done two big classes back-to-back like that in a long time, so I would have understood if he had been a bit tired, but he came back better than ever. I think he jumped even better on Sunday than on Saturday."

For the second year in a row, Lamaze and Hickstead placed second in the 150,000-Euro Grand Prix of Madrid, held Saturday.

A total of 44 horses attempted the first round track in the feature event at the Spanish show jumping tournament. Lamaze, second into the ring, showed that a clear round was possible by leaving all the rails in place with Hickstead. Seven others followed suit to join Lamaze in the jump-off. First back for the tiebreaking round, the Olympic champions were again clear, stopping the clock in 36.04 seconds. All Lamaze could do was wait as the remaining jump-off contenders took their turn. In the end, it was Laura Kraut of the United States, riding Anthem, who bettered his time, stopping the clock at 35.61 seconds.

"I was first to go in the jump-off, and Hickstead jumped really well," said Lamaze of the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion. "It was a really fast jumpoff, and Anthem is a fast horse!"

Last year, Lamaze and Hickstead placed second to Jill Henselwood riding Special Ed, who would later be their teammates at the Olympics where Canada claimed the silver medal.

Earlier Saturday, Lamaze placed fifth in a 12,000-Euro speed competition, riding Lord du Janlie, a 10-year-old selle francais gelding owned by Tequestrian Farms, LLC.

Lamaze, 41, opened the show jumping tournament Thursday by winning two classes and placing second in another.

In the first competition of the day, Lamaze guided Lord du Janlie around the 1.40m speed course, stopping the clock in 59.97 seconds to claim victory over Spain's Cayetano Martinez de Irujo who completed the course in a time of 61.14 seconds.

In the second competition, a two-phase event with jumps set at 1.45m in height, Lamaze again emerged victorious, this time riding Undercontract for owner Carol Sollak. From a starting field of 51 horses, Lamaze completed the second phase clear in a time of 20.96 seconds, edging out Manuel Anon of Spain, whose time was 22.34 seconds. Lamaze was the defending champion of this competition, having won in 2008 riding Narcotique de Muze II.

Lamaze, who opened his European spring show season in April at CSI4* Antwerpen, Belgium, competed at CSIO4* Lummen, Belgium, and CSIO5* La Baule, France, before landing at CSI5* Madrid. Lamaze and his horses, including Hickstead, will return to Canada to contest the summer tournaments at Spruce Meadows in Calgary, beginning June 10.

"I am really looking forward to going to Spruce Meadows," said Lamaze. "Not only is it one of the best show grounds in the world, but it will be great to compete at home in front of the Canadian fans."