Beezie Madden & Simon. Photo: The Chronicle of the Horse.
Gothenburg, Sweden: Beezie Madden and Simon, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Abigail Wexner, rose to the top of the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals leader board today to be crowned the 2013 Champions, keeping the title for the United States of America and becoming only the 5th woman to hold the title. After 3 rounds made up of 6 courses of world-class competition over 4 days, Beezie and John Madden are on top of the world!
“It feels fantastic; I am so proud of Simon and my team. I can’t thank Abigail Wexner enough for her support,” said Madden of her win.
Madden started the competition at the Gothenburg Horse Show with a bang on Thursday, April 25th by claiming her first ever Rolex FEI World Cup Finals win of an individual round, the speed round. Friday’s course, by course designer Uliano Vezzani, was impressive with Madden ending in 9th place for the round but in second place going into today’s two final rounds.
The first of the two courses today proved to be very challenging with no horse and rider combination delivering a clear round. Madden and Simon had 4 faults in this round, placing them back on top of the overall standings going into the final course. Both Madden and fellow Olympic medalist, Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, emerged from today’s second course with a total of 9 faults overall, forcing a final jump-off between the two riders. Guerdat lowered two obstacles in the final stages of the jump-off, leaving Madden in the very best possible situation. Madden’s task was to not lower more than 2 jumps and stay in front of Guerdat’s time, and that is what she did! Simon laid down another beautiful clear round with a time of 41.66 seconds, walking out of the arena victorious!
When asked about today’s win aboard Simon, Madden stated, “I always consider it an honor to ride for the US, and there are no words to describe how it feels to deliver a win. Simon has just been amazing. He is an incredible partner. The World Cup Finals definitely test the horses at every level. This was a marathon, and I am so proud of him.”
Madden is trained by husband John Madden. Together they own and operate John Madden Sales, Inc. in Cazenovia, New York. “It is very hard to put into words what this win feels like,” said Madden of Beezie’s win today. “This is what Beezie and I live for and not just for ourselves but for our owners, our JMS Team, our sponsors, our family and friends in Cazenovia and Nelson as well as our students at Trelawny Farm and Coral Reef Ranch. This is such a great honor, and we are very proud to bring the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals Championship Title home for Team USA.”
A full list of results can be found at http://results.scgvisual.com/2013/goteborg/worldcup.html.
John Madden Sales, Inc. is owned and operated by John and Beezie Madden in Cazenovia, NY. The Maddens train, sell and compete world-class show jumpers around the globe. Accomplishments include two team Olympic Gold medals and an individual bronze as well as the FEI Rolex World Champion title and a World Equestrian Games individual silver medal. They have also trained and been instrumental in the development of many top horses, riders and trainers competing today.
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