“Yann
Candele and Mill Creek Sweet Dream enjoyed a successful 2003
World Cup season.”
Photo credit – Cealy Tetley |
Yann
Candele and Mill Creek Sweet Dream Secure World Cup Final Invitation
Cambridge, Ontario – Mill Creek Stables of Cambridge,
ON, is pleased to announce that Yann Candele and Mill Creek
Sweet Dream have secured an invitation to the 2004 World Cup
Final to be held April 21-25 in Milan, Italy.
Candele,
a native of Normandy, France, enjoyed a successful season
in the Canadian World Cup League to earn an invitation from
the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to the annual
indoor World Cup Final. Candele’s invitation comes in
addition to the two invitations offered to Canadian riders,
League winner Ainsley Vince of Milton, ON, and runner-up Ian
Millar of Perth, ON.
“After
doing so well nationally, it is really exciting to see our
young grand prix horses earning their way onto the international
stage,” notes Phil Henning of Mill Creek Stables. “I
am very proud of Yann, he is such a great athlete. The horses
seem to realize their full potential and perform at their
best under his guidance.”
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Competing
with two Mill Creek Stables horses, Mill Creek Marco Taere and Mill
Creek Sweet Dream, Candele won three of the four World Cup Qualifying
events he contested on the Canadian calendar. In June, Candele won
the $60,000 National Bank World Cup Qualifier at CSI-W Bromont,
QC, riding Mill Creek Sweet Dream and, in July, topped a seven-horse
jump-off field riding Mill Creek Marco Taere to claim the $50,000
World Cup Qualifier at the CSI-W Caledon Equestrian Festival in
Palgrave, ON. In the $75,000 World Cup Qualifier, Presented by LG
Electronics, held at the CSI-W Tournament of Champions in Newmarket,
ON, in September, Candele claimed his third victory riding Mill
Creek Marco Taere and also placed third with Mill Creek Sweet Dream.
Mill
Creek Stables of Cambridge, ON, imported both horses as five-year-olds.
Candele has been training Mill Creek Sweet Dream, now a nine-year-old
Belgian Warmblood mare whose sire, Ohio Van De Padenborre, is by
the influential French stallion, Quidam de Revel, since she first
arrived in Canada. His partnership with Mill Creek Marco Taere,
a ten-year-old chestnut Belgian Warmblood gelding by Darco, began
in 2002 when Candele took over the reins from Eric Lamaze with whom
Candele is based.
Candele,
32, will use the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, to
prepare for the 2004 World Cup Final in April. Held for the first
time in Milan, Italy, the event will mark Candele’s World Cup
Final debut. Although Candele won the Japanese League to qualify
for the 1992 World Cup Final in Del Mar, California, he was unable
to compete due to the restrictive quarantine requirements for his
stallion. Candele first represented France in Nations’ Cup
competition at the 2001 Spruce Meadows Masters tournament in Calgary,
AB, riding Mill Creek Chardo.
“I
have ridden on junior and young rider teams for France, but the
Nations’ Cup at Spruce Meadows is the only time I have ridden
on a senior team for France,” explains Candele. “Even
though I will be competing as an individual at the World Cup Final,
it is very exciting to be representing my country. It is my goal
to be in the top twenty and qualify for Sunday’s final round,
I think that would be a good accomplishment.”
With
numerous horses now competing at the grand prix level, Mill Creek
Stables continues to develop a large string of up-and-coming young
prospects. Of note are Kaiser de la Cour, a selle francais stallion
by Verdi who was recently crowned the Five-Year-Old National Champion
of the Canadian Young Horse Jumper Development Series, and Versace,
a six-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion ridden by Candele.
Henning
is a proud supporter of Canadian show jumping and was recently recognized
for his valuable contribution with the Jump Canada Owner of the
Year Award. In 2003, Mill Creek Rosalinde, a nine-year-old black
Hannoverian mare by Ramiro’s Son II, competed at the 2003 Pan
American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, under Lamaze
and also represented Canada in September in the $250,000 BMO Financial
Group Nations’ Cup at the CSIO Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament.
Mill Creek Raphael, a 13-year-old Hannoverian gelding by Raphael
whom Henning generously donated to Equine Canada earlier this year,
was named to the 2000 Sydney Olympic team and represented Canada
at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain, before winning
his second Canadian Show Jumping Championship title with Lamaze
in 2003.
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
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