Madden Clinches Derby Title and Overall Spruce Meadows Canadian Championship™
(SPRUCE MEADOWS, Calgary, AB): It´s probably safe to assume that a seasoned international rider like Great Britain´s Mark Armstrong never thought he would find his greatest adversary in the form of a little Pinto ridden by an amateur rider.
But that´s what it came down to in Sunday´s ATCO Structures Double Slalom. After 4 paired rounds of competition, Armstrong, aboard his 12 year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Rex, squared-off against Bradley Cox who had won the crowds´ heart aboard Santa Teresita Duvalin, a small but spunky 7 year-old mare.
It ended up being a barn-burner of a round, with both horses knocking down a rail in the first half of the race. In the end, the little horse that could ran out of steam, knocking down a second rail, and finishing second to Armstrong and Rex despite a faster time.
“When I went through the finish I thought I hadn´t won it,” admits Armstrong. “But then I turned around and saw she had another rail down.”
Bradley Cox couldn´t be happier about her performance Sunday afternoon, especially in the quarter-final round where she beat out fiancée and defending champion of the ATCO Structures Double Slalom, Kyle King. “That was almost better than winning,” laughs Cox.
“She´s an amazing horse, very brave, very careful, very fast,” says Cox. “She has a bit of a short stride though.” Santa Terisita Duvalin is just only 15.3 hands high, with very short legs. “I have to ride every round like it´s a jump-off.”
But King´s disappointment over his defeat by Cox didn´t last long, he went on later in the afternoon to come in third place in the Shell Cup Derby.
King was first in the ring, managing to complete the course with no jumping faults and only one time fault aboard Capone I.
“We ran him pretty hard earlier in the week,” says King. “He was not anything close to what I was expecting, he went full out, because that´s what he thought he was supposed to do.”
King´s performance was bested later in the competition by Richard Spooner, who beat King´s time by more than a tenth of a second. Spooner was aboard Robinson, his 18 year old Hannoverian gelding. Both riders finished with one time fault and were preparing for a jump-off.
But the afternoon belonged to Beezie Madden. After a shaky round on her first horse, she came back to ride the first clear round in the Shell Cup Derby in 3 years on Judgement, and only the 13th in the history of the event.
“I chalk it up to the horses,” says a grinning Madden. “It´s amazing how much easier it is when the horses have done it before.”
Judgement, who has been in the Shell Cup Derby three times seems to be built for the International Ring.
“He has a huge stride,” says Madden. “In a field like this you can really use his length of stride and speed it up.”
And speed it up she did, Madden and Judgement finished their round in the Shell Cup Derby more than 10 seconds faster than her closest competitor.
The win in the Shell Cup cinched the Spruce Meadows Canadian Championship™ for Madden. Her consistent efforts paid off, awarding her one year´s use of a Daimler Chrysler vehicle, $1,000 of gasoline from Shell and a cash bonus of $15,000 from CN.
Week two of the Spruce Meadows Summer Tour starts next Wednesday with the “Continental”, featuring the CN Performance on Sunday afternoon.
Please check www.sprucemeadows.com for the full tournament line-up.
Shell Cup Derby
1. Beezie Madden/Judgement/Cazenovia, NY/0 – 137.40
2. Richard Spooner/Hilton Flight/Agua Dulce, CA/1 – 149.14
3. Kyle King/Capone I/Mobile, AL/1 – 149.39
4. Richard Spooner/Robinson/Agua Dulce, CA/4 – 141.06
5. Rich Fellers/McGuiness/Wilsonville, OR/4 – 143.40
ATCO Structures Double Slalom
1. Mark Armstrong/Rex/Great Britain
2. Bradley Cox/Santa Teresita Duvalin/Mobile, AL
3. Ashley Fleischhacker/Valentine/Maple Plain, MN
3. Nicole Crighton/King David/Boulder, CO
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