Beezie Madden takes WEF Challenge Cup round six

Beezie Madden and Mademoiselle.
By Sportfot.com

Double Olympic gold medalist Beezie Madden, of the USA, rode Abigail Wexner's Mademoiselle to victory in the $31,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 6 (19 February) at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The Grand Prix was held on grass at The Stadium and riders and spectators alike enjoyed the beautiful weather and change of scenery at the venue.


There were 29 entries in the class and the 14-obstacle course was designed by Britain's Richard Jeffery. Nine combinations jumped clear to go forward to the jump-off in which the USA's Candice King was first to go on Skara Glen's Davos.

Their faultless target time of 44.88 seconds held up for third place, the next six faulted before fellow American
McLain Ward (Pjotter van de Zonnehoeve) went into the lead temporarily before Beezie and Abigail Wexner's Mademoiselle, the last on course, were able to speed down the final line in one less stride and win the class in 40.91 seconds.

"The horse is very, very careful and I got a little deep to the second to last and he went very high. It was a five or six (strides) and I decided to do six mid-air," said McLain. "In hindsight it was a little slow and definitely opened the door a crack for Beezie to slip into. It wasn't a big mistake, but it was room to lose the class. I knew when I was doing it; I thought 'oh this is slow'."

Beezie had watched McLain go in the jump-off.


"McLain He was pretty fast everywhere else," she said. "It's a quick horse, other than it jumps high so it spends a little time in the air like it did over the second to last jump.

"My horse has a little more experience. She's quicker through the air, and she's pretty quick across the ground. I got stuck a little at fence two because the eight [strides] got steadier than I thought. Then the same as McLain, I didn't catch a great one to the skinny, but I was definitely faster to the last line and down to the last fence."

First WEF Grand Prix win
This was Beezie's first grand prix win of the 2011 FTI WEF and she was excited to have her second big win at The Stadium. She won the $75,000 Grand Prix last year with Coral Reef's Via Volo.

"It's my venue good or bad, I guess! I did fall off in the [WEG] trials last year here," she said. "I like this field. The horses seem happy on it. It's a nice change and refreshing; it makes you feel like you're at a different horse show."

McLain echoed Beezie's thoughts on the change of venue for the class.

"I think this is a beautiful venue," he said. "The footing is excellent and it's a nice change of pace."

For full results, click here