Authentic Shows He's Ready At The Tampa Bay Classic

Watching Authentic and Beezie Madden on course in the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa CSI-W, you would hardly believe that it was only the pair’s third class this year.

But Madden had no doubt that Authentic was at the top of his game and ready to compete at the Tampa Bay Classic, March 28-April 1, in Tampa, Fla.

“I’ve never been concerned,” Madden said. “I’ve only shown him a little this year, but what he did he won. I knew that he was in good form.”

Authentic and Madden sped to the win in Tampa, just as they had in the $25,000 WEF Challenge Series Round IV on Feb. 15 in Wellington. The wins prove that they’re ready to compete at the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev., April 19-22.

Madden praised the work of British course designer Richard Ellis, describing the course as an excellent preparation for the World Cup Final. “To get ready for a small indoor like Vegas you want to have some rideability in the course, and he did that,” she explained. “It was a nice classical course, yet challenging. There wasn’t one major trouble spot, but several spots that could cause potential problems.”

Sunday’s grand prix served as the last East Coast qualifying competition for the World Cup Final, and many of the top contenders came to compete.

Richard Spooner was already comfortably qualified for the Finals, seated second in the U.S. West Coast League for his consistent performances at qualifying competitions in California.  He traveled to Florida in March after the conclusion of the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit (Calif.) to put some miles on three of his grand prix mounts and get some practice in before Las Vegas.

“All three of the horses I brought are young. At this point they need to get into different arenas, see different water jumps, spooky jumps and walls. It’s hard to do that when you just show in one area. This way they could get a lot of experience in a short time. Plus there are a lot of great competitions out here with a lot of prize money,” Spooner said.

Spooner also relished the opportunity to go head-to-head with top competitors on the East Coast. “It’s a tough group of riders out here,” admitted Spooner. “It’s hard to get a win or a good piece of the class. It’s nice to be able to compete in that arena.”

The trip paid off as he and Cristallo jumped to second in the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa. He got to add that prize money to the $6,596 he earned taking eighth in the $395,781 CN Worldwide Florida Open Grand Prix in Wellington on March 17.

Spooner set the pace with a clear round in the jump-off and a time of 43.56 seconds. Laura Kraut on Anthem and Ken Berkley on Carlos Boy—the only other competitors posting clean jump-off rounds—couldn’t catch his time.

But Madden maintained her steadfast confidence. She was already easily qualified for the upcoming World Cup Final, so Tampa’s grand prix served as a chance for her to get Authentic in the groove of showing. Madden chose to show Authentic sparingly at Wellington’s Winter Equestrian Festival venue because of inconsistent footing.

When it was their turn to challenge the jump-off course, the pair showed the crowd exactly how prepared they were for the World Cup Final. After blazing down the first line, Madden elected a tight inside turn no one else had tried to the third fence, knowing that such a risk might allow her to beat Spooner and win the class. Her gamble paid off. The jumps stayed up and the pair posted the winning time of 42.99 seconds, knocking Cristallo and Spooner down to second place.

Madden’s win propelled her past McLain Ward in the East Coast World Cup League standings to finish on top. “The World Cup is especially important this year because it’s not an Olympic year,” Madden explained. “This is Authentic’s big competition. Plus it’s in Vegas, in our home country. It’s important for us—not just me—but for all the U.S. riders to do well.”

Seven slots are reserved at the Final for the top riders from the East Coast. Madden, Ward, Lauren Hough, Margie Engle, Schuyler Riley and Molly Ashe finished at the top of the East Coast league.

Kraut on the veteran Anthem finished third in the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa, clinching the eighth spot in the East Coast World Cup League standings, but she has chosen not to travel to Vegas.  Chris Kappler, who finished seventh in the league, also will not be attending. So, Christine McCrea, seated ninth, will be competing in her first World Cup Final.

Kate Levy’s eighth-placed finish in Tampa earned her enough points to tie with Todd Minikus in the final East Coast League standings. Her top finishes of second and fourth bested Minikus’ third and fifth, earning her the FEI wild card.

Kroon Gravin Is Back
To the average spectator, there was nothing special about Molly Ashe and Kroon Gravin’s fifth place in the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa CSI-W. But for Ashe, it was the fruition of years of struggling.

In 2000, Ashe and Kroon Gravin splashed onto the international show jumping scene, winning the $54,538 Banco Herrero Grand Prix (Spain), the $60,336 Grand Prix of Berlin (Germany), and the $72,901 Audi Grand Prix (the Netherlands), as well as having remarkable results in the United States.

And in 2001, they won their first $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational (Fla.) together, and were eighth at the FEI World Cup Final (Sweden). But then “Kroon” developed problems with her ovaries. Ashe and the veterinarians struggled with the issue for eight months, but finally resolved it using an ovarian implant.