July 6, 2023 
Canadian Olympian Tiffany Foster had something to prove when she rode into Spruce Meadows iconic International Ring for the jump off on Thursday.
The Saturday prior she was in contention to capture the second 5* Grand Prix title of her career. Last to return in the jump off for the Pan American Grand Prix, she was on route to a clear with Hamilton but pulled to the last fence and pulled a rail. She ended up sixth.
“I was very frustrated with myself last week after the Grand Prix,” said Foster. “I choked to the last jump.”
Like any serious competitor, Foster has been doing her homework in the days since. On Thursday at Spruce Meadows’ North American tournament she put that learning to good use.
“I had some good conversations with some friends here: Kent [Farrington], who is a good person to talk with about going fast,” she smiled, “and Sergio Moya. They’ve been giving me jump off tips and I won both the jump off classes I jumped today, so something’s working!”
Foster’s winning Thursday started with the 1.35m Horseware Ireland Cup in the North American ring. Seven of 35 starters qualified for the jump off in the Joey Rycroft (CAN) designed track. Foster and the recently acquired nine-year-old mare Jetouelle-S crossed the finish line in a time of 34.53 seconds. They were the only pair to complete the short course in under 35s.
Come the CSI5* Jayman BUILT Cup 1.55m in the International Ring that afternoon, Foster was again at the head of the victory gallop, this time with Battlecry.
Eleven of the 41 combinations to contest Santiago Varela’s first round course found a foot perfect track to advance to the jump off. Daniel Coyle (IRL) and Nayel Nassar (EGY) qualified two mounts each. Nassar elected to jump off only Jiminy Cricket.
First in the ring for the short track, Coyle and Ivory TCS posted a speedy clear round in 41.91s. It looked all but catchable, said Foster:
“We all gathered around the TV and watched Daniel Coyle go first in the jump off and everybody went, ‘Oh.’ That looked almost unbeatable to me.”
Coyle’s time held until Foster and Battlecry, seventh to return, contested the short track. Using the gelding’s right drift to her advantage and laying off the reins, Foster shaved over one second off Coyle’s time to stop the clock at 40.67s.
“This jump off suited him,” said the world no. 49. “He likes to go a little right and there were a couple pretty sharp right turns, which really played into him. And so I kind of thought, every single round I go in and I hold him straight and I hold him straight. In this round, I went to number one and I go, Alright, you can go right this time.”
Battlecry answered in kind.
Coyle returned with Quintin one horse later to beat his previous time (41.23s), but wasn’t able to catch the Canadian. Once again, Foster was fastest on the day, as the only rider to finish under 41 seconds.
The victory is the Battlecry’s biggest to date and his second ever 1.55m appearance.
“He’s only nine years old. I attempted one of the 1.55m [classes] here last week, and he jumped his first 1.60m at Thunderbird [Show Park in June]. But other than that, we’ve kind of had him in the 1.50m division. So this is a nice step up for him,” said Foster.
Over 10 rounds at 1.50m height, Battlecry has a 60% clear round average and 50% top 10 finish average, according to Jumpr App.
“I think that this is a horse who can win big things,” she continued. “And I think what we’ve learned as we’ve watched horses develop here, you can’t just try to win on the very biggest day. You’ve got to learn how to win the whole way up the ladder.”
Don’t expect to see Battlecry in Saturday’s $1 Million ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup, though. Learning to win with a developing horse also means quitting while you’re ahead.
“Well, I always have these secret conversations with my horses while I’m walking around and I said to him, We win today, you won’t have to go Saturday. So now I have to kind of follow that along with that,” smiled Foster.
“Every round that he jumped out in this international ring [over the Spruce Meadows’ Summer Series], he has not knocked a jump down. I think [finishing on a positive note] is the best way. And he’ll be back here in September for the Masters.”
Foster has tapped her veteran Grand Prix horse Figor for Saturday’s million dollar class. The 13-year-old KWPN gelding has a 34% top 10 finish average over 35 rounds at 1.60m (Jumpr App).
“Hopefully on Saturday we’ll have another good day.“
