U.S. dominant as Beezie Madden claims second World Cup Show Jumping title

The World Cup Jumping Final, held in front of thousands of equestrian sports fans in the French capital’s AccorHotels Arena, was the culmination of 10 months of qualifying in 16 regional leagues around the world. And the competition also marks an end to the main indoor Show Jumping season, as athletes begin to shift to outdoor events.

This year in Paris, the Stars and Stripes were definitely front and centre as Madden’s compatriot and first-timer to the World Cup Final, Devin Ryan, finished second overall with the youngest horse at the event, Eddie Blue. And last year’s champion in Omaha, Nebraska, New York State’s McLain Ward, with HH Azur, finished the competition in a strong fourth place. Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann – one of the favourites heading into the Final – stopped an American sweep of the podium, coming in third on Toveks Mary Lou.

Great Britain’s Robert Whitaker and his 15-year-old gelding Catwalk IV placed 15th today, and he and his relative Michael, with JB’s Hot Stuff, finished 19th and 20th in the final standings. Ireland’s Mark McAuley finished in a tie for 23rd, while Denis Lynch was 36th.

Today’s finale (after the opening classes Thursday and Friday evenings) had two rounds not against the clock with a jump-off in the case of a tie. The courses by course designer Santiago Varela and his team featured 1.50–1.60m obstacles, and were programmed for horse-and-rider speeds of 350 metres/minute. The course layout for the second round, which started around 4:30 p.m. local time in Paris, is here.

Heading into Sunday’s class, Madden was in a similar position to her long-time team-mate McLain Ward at last year’s World Cup Final in Omaha, Nebraska, carrying a perfect score with zero penalties in the first two rounds of the competition. And as she and her husband, former Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) vice-president John Madden, walked the course at the AccorHotels Arena with the other riders to measure distances between jumps and plot out a riding route, the famously technical Olympian was able to judge what she had to do to secure her second title.

In the end, despite a fault at one obstacle in the second round, Madden and her 12-year-old mount obtained the aggregate result they needed. Beyond the trophies, Madden, Ryan, Von Eckermann and Ward earned prize money of €172.500,00, €131,250, €78,750 and €60,000 respectively.

For his part, New Jersey’s Ryan has clearly raised his profile in the sport as runner-up this weekend. And through the whole process, he has complimented his youthful partner, including after a second-place in Ocala, Florida in February: “It’s always great to bring a horse up from such a young level,” Ryan said of Eddie Blue. “I knew he was a special horse – he’s a freak of nature!”