Tamie Phillips entered the $20,000 Odlum Brown Grand Prix at 91原创鈥檚 Thunderbird Show Park鈥檚 Western Family with confidence. After all, she was fresh off a victory in the previous week鈥檚 $20,000 Maui Jim Grand Prix with her longtime mount, Ecatino. But when she walked Joey Rycroft鈥檚 course, she knew she would be facing a stiffer test.

鈥淚 thought it was more of a proper grand prix, and there were some good tests out there,鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淚 was somewhat confident, but I really hadn鈥檛 jumped a bigger grand prix in two years. I was really thrilled [with the result].鈥�

Phillips and Ecatino, her 12-year-old KWPN partner of more than four years, came away from the class with a second straight grand prix victory at tbird.

Crossing the timers of Rycroft鈥檚 shortened track more than three seconds ahead of their nearest rivals, the pair was simply uncatchable.

鈥淸Ecatino] has been jumping well here and really likes that tbird grand prix field. He thinks it鈥檚 great!鈥� Phillips exclaimed.

鈥淸Ecatino] did such beautiful job and jumped so well in the first round,鈥� she continued, 鈥渂ut he came back out and was a little bit tired in the second round. I have jumped some very fast jump-offs with him, but today, I just gave him a nice ride. True to form, he kept the poles up.鈥�

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A key to this combination鈥檚 success has been Phillips鈥� sensitivity toward her horse, who can be 鈥渁n anxious kind of guy.鈥� Extra carrots at the ingate, long trail rides at their Calgary-based farm and a focus on fitness keep Ecatino happy, relaxed and show ring-ready.

鈥淓verything is very calm [with him],鈥� Phillips said. 鈥淎s long as I can do that and make sure he doesn鈥檛 get too worried, he goes out there and give his all.鈥�

The Western Family marked tbird鈥檚 biggest event since October, with the ongoing global pandemic forcing the cancellation of the venue鈥檚 spring season鈥攁long with other equestrian events across the country. While some riders traveled outside of the country to compete, Phillips remained at her home base throughout the period of downtime.

鈥淲e go back to basics in our downtime. I do feel like it gives us an opportunity to have the horses really fit,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ecause there were no competitions, we did a lot of strength work and fitness. I felt like [Ecatino] came off the 鈥楥OVID break鈥� in great condition.鈥�

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With the show calendar beginning to return, Phillips hopes to continue her strong form at tbird in August, when the venue will host three weeks of competition. Then she鈥檒l venture to her home venue at Spruce Meadows, located just 15 minutes from her farm.