McCrea Gold, Madden Silver at Pan Ams

By Joanie Morris October 29, 2011

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – In a sport of inches it came down to 7/100ths of a second. Beezie Madden had led the 2011 Pan American Games since Wednesday, and when she landed past the last fence in the second round of the day it seemed Individual Gold was secure with her fifth clear round of the Games.

Until the clock stopped. She and Coral Reef Via Volo finished just over the allowed time of 66 seconds, stopping the clock at 66.07. That one fault left her in the Silver medal position behind teammate Christine McCrea and Romantovich Take One.

It was an epic finish. There wasn’t a rail separating the top five horses going into the final round ― and at the end of all the jumping, McCrea and Windsor Show Stables’ 11-year-old Dutch gelding finished up the way they started. They jumped five clear rounds over three days and ended their first Pan American Games with Team and Individual Gold on a score of .88.

“My overall impression was this was a fabulous week,” said McCrea (Windsor, CT). “It was great. Our country needed this ― we needed it.

Madden is the master of precise riding and clutch performances so her time fault surprised everyone in attendance. “I did not anticipate that. I’m sure Beezie didn’t anticipate that,” McCrea said. “It just happened. That’s sports.”

Madden (Cazenovia, NY) and Coral Reef Ranch’s 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare put on what was tantamount to a jumping clinic all the week. They began by winning the speed class on Wednesday, only to be felled by the clock in the final analysis, but their stellar performance throughout certainly played a significant role in propelling the team to Gold.

“It cost me a lot,” Madden said of her time fault. “But thank god I have a strong team here and Chris was [there] to take it up. I am happy it was an American. We were still Gold and Silver [individually] and with the Team Gold it was a fantastic week for us, so no complaints.”

Bernardo Alves moved up to third for Brazil on Bridgit, after remaining U.S. rider, McLain Ward of  Brewster, NY, had one rail down to finish fourth on Antares F, in an impressive five-round effort.

Javier Fernandez’ course was imposing, especially in Saturday’s second round, consisting of 13 obstacles and 16 efforts (including one double and one triple), with heights ranging from 1.43M to 1.70M.

Romantovich Take One made the rounds easily. Never looking overly challenged, he bounded around the main arena at the Guadalajara Country Club. Chef d’equipe George Morris was thrilled with the overall result of the U.S. squad.

“We had a great week here. We had a great unit of people, they get along well. We had great chemistry of people [at] this club, this whole venue.” Morris also had kind words for the host nation: “This is just as nice as any competition I’ve ever been to at any level anywhere… the atmosphere was great. We have lovely horses down here ― the support staff that helps each of these riders are real professionals,” he said, summing up, “It’s all preparation.”

With Team Gold , the U.S. secured qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games and with this Jumping result – the U.S. takes home its ninth and 10th medals of these Games sweeping Team Gold in Dressage, Eventing and Jumping ― the U.S. riders won every Individual medal except for two: Individual Gold in Eventing and Individual Bronze in Jumping; those honors went to Canada’s Jessica Phoenix and Pavarotti, and Brazil’s Bernardo Alves and Bridgit, respectively.

At a separate event held Oct. 22 in Santo Domingo, Chile, the U.S. equestrian team won Silver and U.S. rider John Crandell and Heraldic the individual Silver at the Pan American Games Endurance Championship.

Overall, it has been the most successful Pan American Games for the United States equestrian teams in history.

To link to Individual Results at the Pan American Games website, click here.

To access the archived version of the live blog, following the action beat-by-beat, click here.

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