The USA’s Beezie Madden and Simon set an unofficial record for taking home their biggest career paycheck in exchange for jumping just 14 fences on Sunday afternoon in the $1 Million CP Grand Prix CSI5*, the annual finale class of the HITS Saugerties summer season in New York. The prize money that Madden earned equated to approximately $23,000 per fence jumped as she and Simon, a 16-year-old KWPN gelding (Mr. Blue x Polydox) owned by Abigail Wexner, completed the only clear round in the 41-horse order that attracted riders from 10 countries to vie for the United States’ wealthiest show jumping prize. “My day was great! It was a difficult course, I thought even when we walked it, this is about as hard as it gets other than maybe Olympics or World Championships,” Madden said. “Together, we had one of our best days. The round went pretty much exactly how I wanted it to and I couldn’t be happier with Simon.” So why weren’t there more clears? Aside from the obvious answer of “that’s just show jumping”, the tough track played a deleterious role for most of the order. Course designer Steve Stephens took a few liberties with the 14-obstacle Round One track – namely the triple combination of vertical, one stride to liverpool vertical, one stride to vertical, a question very rarely seen in the sport. The row of airy verticals with sunken liverpool at the B element made for a trappy challenge that caused stops for several horses and faults more often than not. Beezie-2 ph ©Heidi Keeny/The Plaid Horse A tricky double combination of oxers in one stride at fence 5AB caught out plenty of riders as well, including young up and comer Sydney Shulman, who took a tumble there from Quidam 13. Several fences built to the widest specs, including a 1.80m triple bar, rounded out the challenges of the class. “The intention going into the class was to try to get a jumpoff,” Stephens said of his course. “I think we had some unlucky fours, and the time allowed looked like it was really tight, but as we got down to the five star riders, the time faults went away. And there was not one single fence that I could have corrected – the four faults were all over the place, so I was happy with that.” The Round 1 time of 90 seconds (lengthened from the original 87) was still tight enough that time faults aplenty were racked up, including against an otherwise clear round by Nikolaj Hein Ruus of Denmark with Gerardo Pasquel’s Big Red, a 10-year-old Westfalen (sire Ludwig von Beyern.) Hein Russ held the lead for much of Round One after jumping clear on 2 time faults early in the order, and that ride held up for the 2nd place ribbon and prize money check. Pasquel normally competes Big Red in the 1.40m classes, and the CP $1 Million, which was Hein Ruus’ first career CSI5* start, unquestionably marked a career high for rider, horse and owner. “I was very, very happy about him,” Hein Ruus said of Big Red. “He’s very inexperienced, and for me it’s my first big show. I work him every day, and my boss normally does amateur classes with the horse for the summer. To ride this class, I’m very, very pleased with this result. After Madden and Simon’s ride at 34th in the entry list, hopes for a jumpoff waned as the order filtered down without another clear round. McLain Ward and Rothchild gave it their best shot with a solid ride, but a single rail down at the C element of the triple combination dashed everyone’s hopes of a jumpoff. Ward and Rothchild earned the 3rd place check, and Todd Minikus and Quality Girl were 4th after another solid, four fault round. “I would have liked to have given her a run for her money, but for us it wasn’t our day,” Ward commented. “I’ll get her next week!” The USA’s two top riders will indeed face off next weekend at the Spruce Meadows Masters in Calgary, Canada, where Ward plans to enter Azur and HH Carlos Z, while Madden will ride Cortes ‘C’ in another $1 million-plus grand prix.
