Rounds 5 and 6 finalized the standings of the USEF Olympic Selection Trials, and while tense moments abounded, the top of the list didn’t change much. Beezie Madden finished in front with Authentic, jumping two clean rounds today over Leopoldo Palacios’ huge courses to complete the six rounds of the trials with just 8 faults. Peter Wylde and Fein Cera are right behind her in second, finishing with 12 faults.  They jumped clean in the first round today, Round 5, but then had 8 in Round 6. McLain Ward and Sapphire had 5 faults in each of the rounds today to conclude the trials with 15 faults, in third. 

Provided that the selection committee chooses to not grant Margie Engle the second bye, those three would join Chris Kappler and Royal Kaliber as the U.S. team in Athens. Alison Firestone, who closed the trials in fourth with 21 total faults, will be the reserve. The top five will travel to Germany to show at Hachenburg and Aachen in Germany in July, and then go on to Athens. They all have to jog tomorrow morning to ensure soundness, and the selection committee has until 48 hours after the conclusion of the trials to decide about any bye.      

“I’m excited to make the team, for sure, but I’m even more excited about the team we have. We have four great horses and four great riders,” said Wylde. Coming into today’s

final round, Wylde and Fein Cera’s only 4 faults had come at the first fence in the first round. The plank vertical they had down in Round 6 was “just a fault,” said Wylde. “She’s jumped a lot of rounds, and it just happened. The rail in the triple combination was my fault. I went in too slow and got a little bit too far away from the second element. It was my mistake.” Wylde and Fein Cera made no more mistakes, however, and had only that 8 to their name at the end of the round to add to their 4.

Madden and Authentic jumped the only double clean rounds of the day, which also brought them the top check in the $175,000 Cargill Grand Prix. The success outweighed the disappointment Madden felt when DeSilvio, her horse who led the trials after yesterday’s Round 4, came up lame this morning.  “It’s been a rollercoaster day, for sure, but Authentic jumped so well,” she said.        

Ward had to suffer through a few heart-stopping moments as well. On the long gallop to the second fence of Round 6 today, a vertical, Sapphire took a hard look at the fence and almost stopped. Ward kicked on, and Sapphire climbed over the fence to gasps from the crowd, clearing it.  “The first thing I did was react and close my leg, and she climbed up one side and down the other. Fortunately, she has the talent to help me out in a situation like that,” he said. “She’s the least experienced horse on the team, but she’s so gifted that I think that makes up for it.”  Sapphire’s rail came later in the course, in a tough last line and a combination of oxers. “We came down the last line, and I maybe just didn’t ride her up to it enough,” said Ward.

Lauren Hough and Clasiko came into today with just 9 faults, but they had 8 in each of the rounds today.  Hough believes that Clasiko’s respiratory infection caught up with him. “He just ran out of gas.  He was cooked,” said Hough.       

Nicole Simpson and El Campeon’s So Long also didn’t have the best day. With 8 faults in Round 5 and then 16 in Round 6, they finished well down the standings tied for ninth.

The possibility that the selection committee, Ray Texel, Lisa Jacquin and Michael Endicott, will choose to replace Ward, as the fourth qualifier, with Engle and Hidden Creek’s Perin still lurks.  But Ward has strong feelings about the prospect.  “I feel for Margie; we all do.  But I don’t think it would be right,” he said.