Beezie Madden and Breitling LS Dominate Derby Field to Win $205,000 CaptiveOne Grand Prix CSI4*

Wellington, Fla. – March 24, 2018 – Saturday’s feature class, the $205,000 CaptiveOne Grand Prix 4*, moved from its usual spot under the lights at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) to the immaculate derby field at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. With a 10:30 a.m. start time, the class saw 45 horse-and-rider combinations vying for the top prize. At the end of a five horse jump-off it was Beezie Madden and Abigail Wexner’s Breitling LS who gave crowds the fastest time to take home the win.

Olaf Petersen Jr’s (GER) course challenged athletes with 13 obstacles including an open water fence to a fragile vertical and a technical triple combination (oxer-oxer-vertical). While many athletes and their horses demonstrated their capabilities on the grass field, the course also caused multiple refusals at the open water obstacle in addition to five horse-and-rider teams choosing to retire midway through the course.

*Beezie Madden and Breitling LS stand for the awards ceremony with class sponsor CaptiveOne*

Five athletes qualified for the tiebreaker including Alise Oken (USA), Juan Manuel Gallego (COL), Richie Moloney (IRL), Daniel Coyle (IRL), and Beezie Madden (USA). Each athlete produced a clear round and as the jump-off progressed the time to beat became faster with each combination taking over the leading position. Madden, who was last to go in both rounds of competition, rose above the pressure of Coyle’s tight time of 48.23 seconds to give the fastest time of the day which was 47.199 seconds.

Madden and Breitling LS, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion, have had a successful career together, having begun their partnership in 2011. Some of their notable finishes include a first place 5* grand prix win in August of 2017 at Valence and another first place win in the 4* grand prix at the Washington International Horse Show in October of 2017. During Nation’s Cup week at the Winter Equestrian Festival Madden and Breitling also picked up another win in $205,000 Grand Prix CSIO4*.

In second place was Daniel Coyle, who has made quite a name for himself throughout the 2018 season at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) aboard Cita, a Holsteiner mare who is owned by Ariel Grange and Lothlorien. The pair most notably captured first place in the $384,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix 5* during WEF Week Nine as well as the $220,000 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Wellington CSI3* at the 2018 Palm Beach Masters.

Third place was captured by Richie Moloney and Equinimity LLC’s Freestyle De Muze, a horse he noted prefers grass venues like Saturday’s derby field.

Competition at the Winter Equestrian Festival will continue Saturday evening at PBIEC with the $132,000 Hollow Creek 1.50m Classic Final serving as the week’s “Saturday Night Lights” feature event. The class will begin at 6:30 p.m. preceded by the March for Our Lives which will feature riders from all over marching into the International Arena at 6:00 p.m.

FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE

Beezie Madden – $205,000 CaptiveOne Grand Prix 4* Winner

On choosing Breitling LS for Saturday’s class:
“He is great at night too. He did the Nation’s Cup and he was good. This is his final prep before he goes to Paris for the World Cup Finals and I know it sounds funny to do a big field, but I think that the grass and a nice different venue helps keep him fresh and feeling better. He has always been a horse that goes well when he is in a good mood and happy, so we’re just trying to keep him happy. He seems to like the grass, so that’s why we decided to compete with him today. We bought [Breitling] when he was 7 years old and now he is 12. I’ve had him a good five years. He just keeps getting better and better. We were super excited about him as a 7-year-old. He’s taken a little time to develop into a season horse, but he’s really come through now and we’re excited to have him.”

On the competitive jump-off:
“Well I was able to keep a little eye on what was going on and I had someone watching for me. I was really able to see Daniel [Coyle] go, so I was lucky that he went into the lead because I could see exactly what I needed to do. I think when I did five strides from fence two to three it took almost too much time and that worried me a little bit. So that actually made me hustle a little the rest of the way around the course. I’m not sure exactly where I won, but I think it may have just been a little bit more speed around the whole course.”

On what Saturday’s win means:
“For me any grand prix win is exciting, not only for myself, but for my entire team. I have a fabulous owner Abigail Wexner, and just a great support team behind me. It’s always nice for my whole team to have a win. It’s great prize money too, thanks to CaptiveOne, and it’s a beautiful venue out here too.”

Daniel Coyle – $205,000 CaptiveOne Grand Prix 4* Runner Up

On Cita:
“I think I’ve tried to save Cita for certain grand prix’s. Every time I’ve asked her to perform this year she has been great. She was brilliant today. She is jumping fantastic and she has never been in better form, so I’m very happy with her. Cita will do next week but then she will have a couple of months off probably. I’ll probably take her in the Nation’s Cup in Langley and then Spruce Meadows and then we’ll see how it’s going from there.”

On Saturday’s competition:
“Any 4* or 5* grand prix win anywhere in the world is not easy to do. The course was well-built today and I think that it actually rode a little harder than it walked. There was only five clears and so it definitely wasn’t easy. It always makes it better to win a class that is not easy to jump. This was a good class to be second in.”

Richie Moloney – Third place

On Freestyle De Muze:
“Week Four was his last grand prix and he was double clear on the stadium field as well and he placed sixth. Since then, we’ve been preparing him for today and he did the same with double clear. He loves it out on the grass. All grass rings really suit him. I think just the footing in general is what he really likes. I’ve had him up in Spruce Meadows twice and he jumped really well up there. He was also in the [Hampton Classic Horse Show] when he was 9 years old and he did well in that grand prix. He just likes big, grass arena’s. He hasn’t done a lot lately because he was off with a little injury for awhile, but I’m happy to have him back.”

RESULTS

For more results click here.