Toronto, Ontario – Four-time U.S. Olympic medalist Beezie Madden won the $35,000 Brickenden Trophy on Thursday, November 9, at the CSI4*-W Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 95^th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair running through November 13 in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Madden of Cazenovia, NY, was the one to beat in a 15-horse jump-off over tracks set by 2016 Rio Olympic course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. She and Coach, a nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Con Air x Corofino I) owned by Abigail Wexner, crossed the timers double clear in 30.35 seconds for the victory.

Less than a second separated the top five with Madden unseating fellow U.S. show jumping athlete Andrew Kocher from the top of the leaderboard. The Oklahoma native settled in second place with a time of 30.60 seconds riding Artemise du Houssoit, owned by Double H Farm. Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts jumped into third aboard Aikido Z with a time of 30.70 seconds while the number-one ranked rider in the world and winner of Wednesday night’s Longines FEI World Cup^TM Jumping Toronto, Kent Farrington of the United States, took fourth riding Creedance with a clear jump-off effort in a time of 30.73 seconds. Ireland’s Daniel Coyle rounded out the top five, having posted the first double-clear performance with a time of 30.97 seconds aboard Martha Louise.

“I try to come to The Royal every year because I think this show is fantastic; the jumping is always good here and the crowd is incredible,” said Madden, who also placed third riding Coach in the $35,000 International Jumper Power and Speed on Tuesday, November 7. “This year, I have a great string that I am building, and they needed some indoor experience. Coach has all the potential in the world, and today I used his huge stride to my advantage and was able to do less strides around the ends of the ring, which not very many other riders could do.”

Madden has selected Coach as her mount for the $87,000 GroupBy Big Ben Challenge on Saturday night, November 11, noting, “I am just starting to step him up into the top level. After two classes this week, I feel he is settled enough and ready for a big class on Saturday.”

$35,000 Brickenden Trophy – Thursday, November 9

Rider / Hometown / Horse / Faults / Time

1.        Beezie Madden United States Coach 0:0/30.35

2.        Andrew Kocher United States Artemise du Houssoit 0:0/30.60

3.        Nicola Philippaerts Belgium Aikido Z 0:0/30.70

4.        Kent Farrington United States Creedance 0:0/30.73

5.        Daniel Coyle Ireland Martha Louise 0:0/30.97

6.        McLain Ward United States HH Gigi’s Girl 0:0/31.53

7.        François Lamontagne St. Eustache, QC Chanel du Calvaire 0:0/32.31

8.        Adrienne Sternlicht United States Pembroke 0:0/33.17

9.        Shane Sweetnam Ireland Indra van de Oude Heihoef 0:0/33.47

10.      Conor Swail Ireland Flower 0:4/30.78

11.      Ian Millar Perth, ON Vittorio 8 0:4/34.85

12.      Tiffany Foster North Vancouver, BC Brighton 0:4/35.14

Full Results: http://www.longinestiming.com/#!/equestrian/2017/1418/html/en/longinestiming/resultlist_130.html

Source: Press Release by Jennifer Ward for Jump Media

Photos: © Ben Radvanyi Photography by Ben Radvanyi