LEXINGTON, Ky.--Beezie Madden on Abigail Wexner’s Chic Hin D Hyrencourt won the $250,000 FEI Jumping World Cup CSI4* at the National Horse Show on Nov. 3.
With that win, Madden also was Leading Open Jumper rider and won an Audi, courtesy of Audi of Lexington.
Eight countries from four continents were represented in the starting field of 35 in the World Cup, including the four gold medal-winning members of the U.S. Jumping Team from the World Equestrian Games: McLain Ward, Laura Kraut, Devin Ryan and Adrienne Sternlicht.
Only six, Lucy Davis, Kent Farrington, Kraut, Madden, Amanda Derbyshire of Great Britain and Molly Ashe Cawley,went clean in the first round within the tight 74-second time allowed to qualify for the jump-off, and four had one time fault.
THE FIRST two back in the ring, Davis and Farrington both had four faults, opening the door for Kraut and St. Bride’s Farm Confu, who navigated the first double clear of the evening in 38.10 seconds.
Not to be outdone, Madden and the 10-year-old grey gelding systematically sliced across the 8-fence track at a blazing clip, stopping the clock in 36.57 seconds to take over the lead with only two left to challenge them.
Derbyshire and Gochman Sport Horse, LLC’s Luibanta BH,had two rails down,and Ashe Cawley and Louisburg Farm’s Cat Ballou were clean but just tenths of a second too slow, tripping the timers in 36.77 seconds to settle for second place, with Kraut and Confu rounding out the all-female podium as t
“We took him to some shows and started in the 1.35m and 1.40m classes, and we actually felt quite comfortable right from the start with him," said Madden of Chic. "He stepped right up to the FEI division the next week and did really well. He has continually gotten better and better. It’s a process of figuring out which bit I like the best on him and which spurs I wear on him, but really, he’s been quite simple. Hopefully, he stays that way. When he gets in the ring, he has quite a bit of blood. I would say he is a little on the hot side. I hate to compare him, but he’s a big horse like Cortes C and yet he rides pretty light. He’s apparently quick enough across the ground as we saw today. I would love to see him go do some championship events. He has the scope, carefulness and seems to have the brain for it, so I’m looking forward to the future with him.”
Madden is working to have the best chance to repeat her victory in the World Cup Finals.
“I WAS automatically qualified off of my win last year, so my strategy has been to make each horse eligible who I think might be eligible," said Madden. I already have Darry Lou, Breitling, and now this horse Chic [Hin D Hyrencourt] eligible, so I’ll plan on using Coach early in the season since he has had a break from Spruce Meadows. I’ll see who the ‘hot’ horse is going into the World Cup Finals, which was my strategy last year.”
“My horse is obviously very large and he’s just come back to the sport from a lot of time off," said Cawley. "He had an injury and spent a year out in the field, so I haven’t gotten to do a ton of jump-offs with him. Obviously, in the jump-off with me going last, I had to push it as much as I could. I was really thrilled and pleasantly surprised with how quick and nimble he got. I really love the horse and I’m just happy to have him back. He seems to be back and better than ever, so I’m thrilled with him.”
“I watched the first two not have a good first fence, so my main objective was to make sure I got that out of the way," said Kraut. "I actually was very, very good, and I lost my balance a bit when I came out of the double. He turned really quick and I shifted into the left stirrup, so he had to swing back, come get me and then keep turning. That sort of slowed us down a bit, but I was very happy with him and I’m in good company.”