Authentic Sold

Beezie Madden\’s mount, Authentic, who earned team gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics and just helped the U.S. team win the Samsung Super League Nations Cup at the Aachen CHIO (Germany), was sold in mid-July. But according to John Madden, the news of Authentic\’s sale isn\’t so much about the transaction, but more about the generous efforts of all involved.

Since just before the 2004 Olympic selection trials, Authentic was owned by a group of people, Team Authentic. John Madden Sales and Elizabeth Busch Burke each owned 30 percent of the horse, while four more partners—Jeremy Jacobs, Chandi Duke Heffner, Barbara and Steffen Wolff, and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Patton—each owned 10 percent. But this summer, an offer to buy Authentic came from an English rider.

“We had someone express interest in buying the horse, and we put an exorbitantly high price tag on him,” said John Madden. “Because of the nature of the partnership, it was the kind of thing we had to think about.” So, before Authentic left for the summer Super League tour in July, Madden mentioned to [U.S. chef d\’equipe] George Morris that it was possible that Authentic might eventually be leaving the country.

Concerned, Morris talked to Abigail Wexner, an amateur rider who also runs the extremely popular New Albany Classic Grand Prix in Ohio. Wexner has long been a strong supporter of Beezie. She owns the grand prix horses DiSilvio and three young horses in Beezie\’s string. “He expressed to her how important it was to keep Authentic in the U.S. There was a lot of discussion between Abigail, all the partners, and Beezie and I,” said Madden. Those discussions led to a compromise, where Wexner purchased Authentic at a price less than the English offer.

According to Madden, the deal represents the efforts of many people working together to make sure one of America\’s best horses stays under the U.S. flag. “There were a bunch of heroes here. It was unbelievable to get so many people to work together to make this happen. They have a real sense of pride in their country. Abigail did this as a favor to Beezie and the country. And the selling partners discounted the price—in terms of what they could have done—in order to make it work out for Beezie, the country and the team,” he said.

Beezie will retain the ride on Authentic for the foreseeable future.