PrintThe Olympic team gold medalist guides her up-and-coming star to the day’s best performance over a new and challenging derby course.
True jumping derbies are few and far between. So when British course designer Richard Jeffery was asked to design a new derby course at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, he jumped at the chance.
After 10 days of frantic planning, furious construction and sleepless nights, he was ecstatic to observe a battle unfold on Feb. 15 in Wellington, Fla., when five horse-and-rider combinations jumped clear over his newly unveiled creation.
In the end, Beezie Madden and Crème Brule edged Peter Leone and Sequoyah’s Ado Annie in the inaugural $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby.
“I thought it was a really nice course, and I love the venue,” said Madden. “Jumping in a new place, on grass, I think was very refreshing for the horses, and Richard did a beautiful job getting the course ready.”
Held at The Stadium, on the corner of South Shore Boulevard and Pierson Road, the derby was constructed on one of the oldest polo fields in the area, which Jeffery said meant he was working with fine, established turf.
“I was out here day in and day out,” said Jeffery smiling. “It was a huge undertaking, but I was thrilled to be asked [to design it]. There aren’t many opportunities to design a derby course anymore.”
Jeffery based his 19-fence course on the design of the famous derby in Hickstead, England, with a lake in the middle, a Devil’s Dyke and a table.
He added a unique “Palm Maze” and incorporated several other palm trees into the design to add a South Florida flavor to the track. He used natural-type fences only, such as birch rails, stone walls and plain rails, a welcome contrast to the flamboyant jumps seen at the main venue.
The Devil’s Dyke—a three-element combination where horses jump down into a ravine, across a ditch and out—and a table fence utilized all-weather footing for this competition because there wasn’t time to re-establish grass. Jeffery plans to install sod in the future, however, so horses are jumping over consistent footing.
Derby Tidbits |
