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Eric Lamaze Photo: Cealy Tetley

Eric Lamaze Named ProChaps Athlete of the Month for February

Ottawa, Ontario --- Jump Canada has named Eric Lamaze the ProChaps Athlete of the Month for February.

Lamaze of Schomberg, ON, enjoyed a successful week at the CSI*** Zada Enterprises, LLC Wellington Masters held February 23 to 27 as part of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL. On Thursday, Lamaze won the $25,000 Ariat WEF Challenge Cup Series riding Tempete V/H Lindehof, a nine-year-old black Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Ashland Stables Inc. In addition to his victory, Lamaze also advanced to the jump-off with Ashland Farm Inc.’s Lorrain Z, finishing in seventh position.

In addition to his victory on Thursday, Lamaze produced impressive results all week long. In the week’s featured event, Sunday’s $75,000 Zada Enterprises LLC Master Cup, Lamaze and Tempete V/H Lindehof placed third. In the $20,000 1.50m Classic, Lamaze and Hickstead, a bay Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Torrey Pines Stables and Ashland Farms Inc., placed second while Lamaze rode Pulque, a 13-year-old grey Mexican-bred gelding, to the win for owner Stacey Krembil.

“Tempete showed the first two weeks of the Winter Equestrian Festival and then had two weeks off, so he was fresh and jumped really well,” said Lamaze, 36, who will be a member of the Canadian Team for the Samsung Nations’ Cup on March 11. “With a win and a third place finish in the Grand Prix with Tempete, as well as winning on Wednesday with Pulque and being second in Saturday’s $20,000 1.50m Classic with Hickstead, it has been a very good week.”

Lamaze’s success bodes well for Canada’s chances at the 2005 Budweiser World Cup Final to be held April 20-24 in Las Vegas, NV, where he will be one of two Canadian representatives alongside the ProChaps Athlete of the Month for January, Jill Henselwood.

In recognition of his achievement, Lamaze will receive a pair of state-of-the-art riding chaps, compliments of ProChaps. A Canadian manufacturer of high-performance riding chaps, ProChaps is the proud sponsor of the Jump Canada ‘Athlete of the Month’ program and rewards each selected rider with a brand-new custom pair of its groundbreaking chaps. Using innovative materials, ProChaps has radically advanced the construction of riding chaps to cutting edge perfection. At the 2004 Spruce Meadows “Masters” Tournament, ProChaps was rewarded with the prestigious Equi-Fair New & Innovative Product Award for their original and unique chap design. For more information, please visit www.prochaps.com.

Jump Canada is a committee of Equine Canada responsible for all hunter, hunter equitation and jumper activities in Canada from the grass roots to the international level. Jump Canada is governed by a board of directors, the majority of whom are elected by the stakeholders in the sport. For more information regarding Jump Canada programs and activities, visit www.jumpcanada.ca.