Madden Debuts a Winner in Chantilly

By Staff Report July 22, 2013

The USA’s Beezie Madden pulled off a stunning grand prix victory in Chantilly, taking the big prize on her 2013 Longines Global Champions Tour debut in France!

Riding Cortes C, she capped two clear rounds with a blazing jump-off time of 41.58 seconds at the July 20 competition.

Christian Ahlmann of Germany was about a second-and-a-half slower on his bay stallion Codex One, but second-place earned him 37 GCT points, boosting him into No. 1 slot on the overall tour rankings. The USA’s Laura Kraut, who led the circuit through the previous few stops, was knocked into third, just behind Portugal’s Luciana Diniz (who was 12^th on Winningmood).

Of the 50 starters who entered the  Meautry Arena in the Hippodrome at Chantilly, 18 made it to round two and nine made the jump-off, in the CSI 5* 1.60m class. Five made it clear through all three trips.

“My horse was fantastic to run to the last like that. He makes big jumps seem little,” Madden commented of her 11-year-old black Belgian gelding at the press conference after the July 20 competition. Madden, who is based in Cazanovia, NY, spent the early summer competing at Spruce Meadows, Alberta, Canada. She she will be in Europe for the next five weeks and is aiming for the top of the GCT ranking, where she now sits at 39, one spot below U.S. rider Jessica Springsteen.

She will be competing at Hickstead the weekend of Aug. 2-4 where she will be joined by her husband, John Madden of John Madden Sales, who will also be attending the GCT Valkenswaard.

Britain’s Scott Brash was third on Hello Sanctos in 43.79 and said competition was exceptionally high with nine of the FEI’s  Top 10 show jumping riders in the world competing at Chantilly.

The course, set by Uliano Vezzani, challenged the riders with its generous size, tricky related lines and difficult combinations, producing several dramatic upsets. In the first round the USA’s Richard Spooner and Cristallo retired, as did Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander and Guccio, who also had a refusal.

The top-ranked Kraut collected an uncharacteristic 12 faults on Cedric early on, and did not make it to round two. Another heartbreak, after an afternoon of perfect form, France’s Jérôme Hurel and Ohm De Ponthual took a nasty fall at the Longines combination in the jump-off. (Both walked off-course on their own and seemed unhurt.)

The Jump off

Ahlmann, No. 1 on the Longines FEI world jumping chart, was the third in, and his time of 43.08 seconds looked to be the one to beat after a slow albeit clear go by Swiss pair Jane Richard Philips and Pablo de Virton, who are sponsored by Longines and a four-fault performance by Roger Yves Bost and Qoud’Coeur de la Loge, dashing hopes for a French win on home soil.

Clear but too-slow turns by Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum and Zinedine and Britan’s Scott Brash and an early rail by countryman Nick Skelton and Big Star kept Ahlmann in the lead.

Then it was Madden’s turn. Currently No. 3 on the Longines FEI jumper rankings, with only the Netherlands’ Gerco Schroeder separating her and Ahlmann, she surely gave the German reason to worry about holding on to his lead. With good reason.

Tackling the course with her usual subtle and precise style, Madden ate away the seconds that seemed to hold back so many and crossed the finish line 1.5 seconds ahead in a textbook perfect performance.

Doda Miranda (BRA) was last to go and the only rider that stood between Madden and victory, but an early rail with Bogeno saw the U.S. contingent stepping into party mode to celebrate national triumph.

“If I could do the jump off one more time I would do one less stride from one to two, but I don’t think even that would be enough with Beezie’s time,” Ahlmann said afterwards, but he still earned the appreciative cheers of a crowd 7,000 strong during a ribbon gallop that celebrated his No. 1 GCT ranking.

“When you see the podium filled with gold, silver Olympic medalists, it doesn’t get any higher,” said Longines Global Champions Tour president Jan Tops. “This show has been growing over the years and the public were sitting here today for five hours in this heat. Uliano knows exactly how to put the right numbers in the jump off and that is a real art.”

U.S. Report

Overall, the U.S. had a strong showing at Chantilly. Margie Goldstein-Engel and her 9-year-old stallion Royce made it to the grand prix’s round two with a clean score, only to have a single rail, good enough for 13^th – the second-best U.S. performance.

Reed Kessler, the 19-year-old who was on the 2012 U.S. Olympic team was the last to go in round one, riding her new horse Wolf S, a 10 year old gelding, but the two had an unlucky round with 13 faults.

Riding her mare, Soraya de l’Obstination, Kessler was fifth in a 1.50m speed class prior to the Saturday grand prix. She finished eighth on the same horse with a single rail in a speed class on Sunday.

Jessica Springsteen and her mare Lisona notched fifth in a 1.45 speed class on Friday. Kirsten Coe and EZ Pleasure were eighth and Saer Coulter and Don VHP Z ninth in the class of 59 starters.

Kent Farrington and Blue Angel also scored fifth in a 1.50 speed class on Friday.

The grounds at Chantilly, known as the hippodrome, house a racetrack and a majestic stables. Seen in the background of some of the shots, it could easily be mistaken for a palace. Today it houses the Living Museum of the Horse.

Complete grand prix results here.

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