Beezie Madden heads G&C Farm Plam Beach Derby with Prima

Beezie Madden and Prima.
By sportfot.com

Beezie Madden scored her second win in week six of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) by heading the $50,000 G&C Farm Palm Beach jumping Derby. She and Prima, owned by Neapolitan Holding Co, were the fastest over a challenging course on a grass field at The Stadium.

There were 22 entries in the Derby and the course was designed by Britain's Richard Jeffery. It featured a step bank, open water, Liverpools, Devil's Dyke and a triple option jump through a maze of hedges. The format was table C, where rails down were converted into added seconds for a final time.

Beezie and Prima, a 12-year-old Dutch mare by Kigali x Nimmerdor, went ninth in the order and were lightning fast over most of the course. Riding a horse with a huge open stride, she barely pulled on the reins and made the trip look smooth and easy. The pair had no faults for a final time of 122.81 seconds.

They were chasing an early leading time of 128.49 seconds set by Britain's Ben Maher and Lindsay Cook's Oscar, who eventually finished second place. Venezuela's Pablo Barrios and G&C Sinatra, owned by Pablo and Gustavo Mirabal, were third in 129.64 seconds.

If he had left the rails up, Ireland's Shane Sweetnam would have tied with Beezie. He and Belle Bleu S, owned by Jerry & Maria Sweetnam and Spy Coast Farm had the same time of 122.81 seconds, but with eight faults converted, they finished with a final time of 130.81 for fourth place.

Beezie and Prima have plenty of experience together in speed and Derby classes.

"She's been a really good speed horse for me all over the world, at Spruce Meadows and at Dublin, where she was the champion of the speed division," said Beezie, who won the WEF challenge cup round six two days earlier with Mademoiselle. "She was kind of an obvious pick for me for this class. She's fast, she's careful, she does all of the natural jumps that she knows really well now. It's a lot of fun to do these classes when it goes well like that."

For Ben Maher's ride Oscar, this was his first Derby class, so his rider was pleasantly surprised at his great result.

"He's one of those horses who kind of does everything," said Ben. "There was no chance to beat Beezie. I don't care if there was every rider from Europe or anywhere, I don't think anyone was going to beat her. It's nice going home knowing you did the best you could even if you didn't win."

For full results, click here