Last year, the vast stadium in Aachen, Germany, was the site of heartbreak for Beezie Madden, as the gold medal at the World Equestrian Games turned to silver with the drop of a rail at the last fence—the Rolex oxer—in the jump-off for the individual medals.

But, this year, the smile on Madden’s face was wide as she landed off that last Rolex oxer in the jump-off. Redemption was sweet, as Madden returned to the Aachen CHIO to claim victory in one of the world’s most prestigious grand prix events, the $343,825 Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, aboard Authentic.

Madden and Authentic are known for their speed, but slow and careful was the winning approach at Aachen. Only three combinations had jumped clear over the first two rounds of competition—Christian Ahlmann on Cöster and Roger-Yves Bost on Ideal de la Loge joined Madden.

The Rolex oxer brought heartbreak this time to Bost, of France. First to go in the jump-off, he rode Ideal de la Loge to a quick round in 54.45 seconds, but toppled the back rail of the last oxer.

Germany’s 2003 team and individual European Champions, Ahlmann and Cöster, went next, and Ahlmann made it clear he was riding to win. But the speed backfired, as Cöster pulled rails at the last two fences, though they posted a quick time of 52.88 seconds.

“Knowing that Beezie Madden and Authentic can go very fast, my idea was to put pressure on them by a fast, clear round. But, it did not work out,” Ahlmann said.

Slow and careful isn’t Madden’s usual approach, and she started off with a quick pace aboard Authentic, a 12-year-old, Dutch Warm-blood gelding. “In case I had a rail down, I still wanted to have the chance to best Roger-Yves Bost’s time, but the more I was getting toward the finish line, I was going for a safe clear round,” Madden said.

A clean round in 59.31 seconds meant Madden became the first U.S. rider to win the Grand Prix of Aachen since Anne Kursinski was victorious in 1991. For Bost, it was the second time since 1990 that he’d taken second place.

Not As Good A Day
Laura Kraut hadn’t had the best week at Aachen with Anthem, but as the weather improved from rain to sun, so did their fortunes. “I had the feeling Anthem did not like the rain,” Kraut said. “We decided not to show him in the Nations Cup and to focus on the grand prix.”

This was obviously the right policy, since in the grand prix, held during sunshine and clear skies, he had a clear first round and only one pole down in the second round to place seventh.

The two other U.S. participants in the grand prix did not qualify for the second round. McLain Ward and Sapphire—part of the U.S. team’s silver-medal effort at the WEG at Aachen last year—had the first fence down, followed by the second-to-the-last and the last fence. Margie Engle and Hidden Creek’s Wapino also had the first fence down, followed by the first element of the double combination.

The U.S. riders weren’t the only ones with a disappointing day. Last year’s Grand Prix of Aachen winners, Marcus Ehning on Noltes Küchengirl, had a rail in each round. The only German combination to jump clear in the first round besides Ahlmann and Cöster was Holger Wulschner with Clausen. But, with 4 penalties in the second round they were fourth overall.

Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shut-terfly, last year’s individual bronze medalists at the WEG, had a shocker of a day. While Shutterfly was jumping very well in the first round, he unexpectedly refused to jump one fence on the first attempt. On the second attempt he did jump, but he kicked the rail off. With 10 total faults, Michaels-Beerbaum had no chance to proceed into the second round.

The 2006 WEG individual gold medalist, Jos Lansink on Cumano, had 4 faults and a slower time in Round 1, keeping them from continuing. A total of nine combinations jumped clear in the first round, joining the fastest nine combinations with a four-fault ride for Round 2.

Germany Cruises To Victory
While “The Star Spangled Banner” played for Madden’s victory and to conclude the Aachen CSIO a few days before, it was all Germany after the hometown team romped to a convincing victory in the Mercedes-Benz Samsung Super League Nations Cup. The U.S. team finished a disappointing sixth.

After Round 1, the Germans had a clear lead, with Ehning, Ahlmann, Michaels-Beerbaum and Ludger Beerbaum all jumping clean. The U.S. team didn’t look out of the running for a top placing, since Madden had anchored them with a clean round on Authentic. With four-fault efforts from Richard Spooner on Cristallo, Ward and Sapphire, and Engle on Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold, their total was only 8 faults.

But things fell apart in Round 2. Spooner opened with a nine-fault round, and then Engle picked up 16 faults. Ward had one rail, and Authentic touched a toe in the water, so the U.S. team finished with 25 faults. With that result, the United Staters dropped to eighth and last in the Samsung Super League standings and looks in jeopardy of being relegated to the regular Nations Cup series next year.

Chef d’Equipe George Morris had only one explanation. “I am doing my best to put good teams together, but the problem is we are lacking depth in top horses and riders. We have to come back always to the same combinations,” he said.

The Germans relied on their stalwarts too. Ehning, Ahlmann, Michaels-Beerbaum and Beerbaum were all on the gold-medal team at last year’s WEG. At Aachen, only Beerbaum was on a different mount—Goldfever. His WEG mount, L’Espoir, was sold and was ridden at Aachen by Norway’s Geir Gulliksen.

The Swiss team of Werner Muff on Plot Blue, Markus Fuchs on La Toya III, Niklaus Schurtenberger on Cantus, and Pius Schwizer on Nobless M looked ready to give Germany a run for their money after they finished Round 1 with a clean slate. But they couldn’t repeat the performance. Schurtenberger had the drop score of 21 faults in Round 2, and each of the other Swiss riders picked up 4 faults.

For the German team, Round 2 was marred only by a rail for Ehning, and when it became obvious that Germany’s victory was complete, Beerbaum did not have to jump again.

Beerbaum has been on a multitude of winning Nations Cups teams, but this year at Aachen was particularly special. It marked Beerbaum’s 100th start in a Nations Cup, so winning on home turf was all the more emotional. After the prize-giving ceremony, Beerbaum was awarded the honor needle of the German Equestrian Federation for his achievements in the equestrian sport, including four Olympic gold medals, two individual European titles, two team World Championship titles and one World Cup Final title.

During the week of Aachen, the U.S. show jumpers achieved several placings and one victory. Kraut placed sixth with the 8-year-old Quidam de Revel gelding Le Prestige Lois in the first class of the week. Then,  Spooner rode the 8-year-old, Holsteiner stallion Ace to an eighth-place in a jump-off class.

Ward claimed victory in a speed class on the Quidam de Revel daughter Quo Vadis, with whom he also placed seventh in the class over ditches and banks. Madden claimed third in a jump-off class with the 16-year-old stallion Judgement.