Authentic: the dictionary meaning includes “genuine and trustworthy—shown to be true.” And there’s no better description for Beezie Madden’s star grand prix mount, who jumped to his second victory in the  $200,000 Budweiser Ameri-can Invitational, April 7 in Tampa, Fla.

Authentic has lived up to his name through his achievements, which include the individual and team silver medals at the 2006 World Equestrian Games (Germany) and the team gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Now he joins the elite ranks of the three other superstar jumpers—Sundance, Seven Wonder and Kroon Gravin—who have won two Invitationals in their careers.

“I thought I had a good shot,” said Madden, who also won the title with the 12-year-old, Dutch Warmblood in 2005. “He was good last week. I know he likes this stadium, which is a huge advantage coming into this class. I knew he’d be fresh. If I got  through the first round, I figured I had a pretty good chance in the jump-off.”

But as with any truly rewarding accomplishment, it wasn’t easy.

Madden and Authentic scorched around the jump-off course to edge McLain Ward and Sapphire by just .18 seconds for the $60,000 top check.

“Beezie is such a fast rider, and that horse is such an incredibly fast horse,” said Ward. “I was doing everything I could to win. I didn’t leave much in the bag.”

Triple Double Challenge
An all-star group of riders faced off at Raymond James Stadium on an unseasonably chilly Florida evening. The top 30 money-winning grand prix combinations on the 10-week Winter Equestrian Festival circuit (Welling-ton and Tampa) qualified to face off in the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team.

Unlike other years, course designer Steve Stephens challenged the riders with three double combinations, and the long, testing course didn’t give the riders much breathing room. The 96-second time allowed was also tight, adding to the equation. In addition, Stephens opted to test the horses’ concentration and scope with frequent maximum-height verticals (1.60 meters), and the word triple wasn’t uttered, as there was no triple combination or triple bar on the course.

Just six riders managed to leave all of the jumps up over the challenging 14-jump, 17-effort course. But for Cara Raether, going 10th in the order, a few too many strides cost her a shot at the jump-off when she and Ublesco picked up 1 time fault to ultimately finish sixth.

On last year’s course, rails fell everywhere, but this track featured several specific challenges for the riders where the faults piled up. The first of the double combinations at 5AB was of particular disappointment to many of the riders who went early in the class. The blocks on top of the two airy pillared walls, set at 37′ apart, thudded to the ground regularly. Later, when the riders figured out to not override the combination, the blocks mostly remained intact.

Amateur rider Cara Cheska, 30, Waukesha, Wisc., a first-time Invitational starter, went first in the order aboard King, and they made the course look easy, dropping just one block at 5A and picking up 1 time fault to show the way.

Cheska’s impressive performance in the WEF circuit’s grand finale was somewhat unexpected as she contested her first Sunday grand prix just a week earlier when she placed sixth with King in the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa CSI-W.

For Christine McCrea on Promised Land and Eric Lamaze on Hickstead, two top contenders on the WEF circuit this year, a blue block on that wall was the only reason they couldn’t vie for the blue ribbon.

The combination at 11AB, two more huge airy oxers in which the second element included a Liverpool, was more of a scope test. In addition, being late in the course added to the difficulty as several horses clear up to that point  tired and picked up faults here, including Frankie Chesler-Ortiz, the second-highest qualifier, with Picolien Zeldenrust. Their 12 faults occurred at three of the last five fences on course.

Molly Ashe, 36, Wellington, Fla., one of only two riders to win consecutive Invitationals (2000 and ’01 with Kroon Gravin), finished just a few inches short of qualifying for the jump-off this year. She and the gray Cocu brushed a rail at 11B for 4 faults and 10th place.

Brianne Goutal, 18, New York, N.Y., making her Invitational debut, left a solid impression when she and Onira dropped just one rail on course at Fence 6, a tall but narrow oxer that followed the challenging 5AB combination. Their additional 2 time faults kept them out of the ribbons, however.

Margie Engle, the 10-time American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year who has 150 career grand prix victories, sought to add her name to the Invitational champions list after she guided Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold to the first perfect score of the class as the 19th in the order.

Richard Spooner, the California-based professional who traveled to Florida in mid-March for the end of the WEF circuit, made the long trek from the West Coast worthwhile when he and Cristallo went clear and guaranteed a jump-off.

Immediately after Spooner, Ian “Captain Canada” Millar posted a classically beautiful round aboard In Style to join the jump-off.

Brazilian Rodrigo Pessoa, the Invitational defending champion, stepped into the ring with a new mount, Coeur, to replace his veteran Baloubet du Rouet who won last year. The impressive gray just tapped the blocks on Fence 5A, which slid to the ground and cost him a place in the jump-off.

The crowd cheered enthusiastically when Madden and Authentic walked into the ring and were introduced. And their appreciative roar after Authentic performed perfectly gave Madden reason to smile as she left the arena.

“He really likes his job, and he enjoys what he does,” said Madden. “The first time in this stadium he was second, and the next time he won. It’s pretty unbelievable. I think he likes it—he likes the crowd. He’s a funny horse. He’s wound up when I go in there, but when I’m done he goes out on a loose rein. And he comes in on a loose rein for the ribbons. He’s so smart. He knows when he’s supposed to do his job and when he’d done.”

Ward, the No. 1 qualifier for the Invitational with the most money earned on the WEF circuit, made the first-round course look like an evening stroll aboard Sapphire. The 12-year-old, Belgian Warmblood mare aired the fences with ease. Ward hoped to add a second Invitational title to his resume after his first victory in 1998 with Twist du Valon. It wasn’t meant to be, however.

A Wealth Of Experience
Between the five contenders in the jump-off—four U.S. riders and one Canadian—there were multiple Olympic and Pan American Games gold medals, World Equestrian Games silver and 28 collective appearances in the FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals.

In other words, this shaped up to be one hot jump-off.

Engle and Hidden Creek’s Quervo Gold had the unenviable position of going first in the nine-fence, twisty tiebreaker. Under pressure to post a fast and clear round, Engle pushed the 14-year-old Belgian Warmblood into overdrive.

The game chestnut had difficulties on the course, however, and two rails down in 47.28 seconds left the door wide open.

Spooner returned aboard Cristallo and meant business. The 36-year-old from Agua Dulce, Calif., had arrived three weeks earlier specifically to qualify for this class. And he wasn’t going to return to the West Coast without giving it his best shot.

The bay Holsteiner’s ground-eating gallop made short work of the course, but a rail at the second-to-last fence, in 46.46 seconds, cost him a double-clear performance and still left the door swinging open in the cold breeze for the remaining three contenders.

Millar, 60, Perth, Ont., arguably one of the world’s most experienced and successful riders with nine Olympic Games appearances to his credit and two FEI World Cup Finals victories, was resigned to the situation at hand.

“After the first two riders had problems, I had no choice but to go clear,” he said with a wry smile. “I didn’t want to give them [Madden and Ward] a Christmas present by having a rail. I went a little more conservatively for the clear. That’s the disadvantage of being in that position.

“I put in a reasonable round, and then I figured when I came out, I’d be second, maybe third, and very lucky to be first,” he added shaking his head. “Hopefully, one of them would have a fault, but neither one of them did.”

Millar’s leading time of 47.99 seconds didn’t last long, just as he’d predicted.

Madden and Authentic sped around the jump-off, skimming the turns on the rollbacks and dropping strides on their way to the winning time of 44.79 seconds.

“I was pretty much planning to do what I did, even if Ian hadn’t gone clear, because I had McLain behind me,” explained Madden. “I just had to really go. It was good practice for me because I haven’t shown him a lot lately. It was fun to go fast and give it a go.” Authentic has enjoyed a light show schedule since his double silver-medal performances at the WEG last August. Beezie and husband John Madden gave Authentic time off from competition last fall and then only started him once in Wellington in the
WEF Challenge Series classes (he won Feb. 15) and three times in Tampa, where in addition to the Invitational, he topped the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa, CSI-W, on April 1.

Ward, 31, Brewster, N.Y., the final starter, closely followed Madden’s hoofprints. He and Sapphire even left out strides where they could, but Ward said he lost some time on the approach to the second-to-last fence when he had to add a stride. Nevertheless, he was pleased with his talented, chestnut mare.

“I was doing everything I could to win it,” he said. “It was a hard challenge, and I’m very happy with my horse. I did pretty much close to my best. I hate to lose, but [Beezie’s] great and the horse is great. If I have to lose someone, she’s a good one to lose to.”

Invitational Tidbits
•    Conrad Homfeld, 1984 Olympic and 1986 World Championships team gold and individual silver medalist, two-time FEI World Cup Finals winner and renowned course designer, became the 42nd inductee into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame during the intermission of the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational.

•    For his impeccable performance in the first round of the Invitational, Canadian Ian Millar was awarded the Bertalan de Nemethy Prix D’Elegance Style Trophy.

•    Former equitation star Brianne Goutal, 18, was awarded the Maxine Beard Perpetual Memorial Trophy for Developing Riders and will attend the Rolex FEI World Cup Final where she’ll experience the event with additional behind-the-scenes input from U.S. riders and officials.

•    Jessica Springsteen, the daughter of musician Bruce Springsteen and student at Beacon Hill Show Stables, earned the Christie Conard Memorial Trophy For Equestrian Excellence in recognition of her equitation performances on the Winter Equestrian Festival circuit.

•    Junior rider Tatiana Dzavik, Toronto, Ont., was named the William R. “Bill” Fitch Sportsmanship Trophy winner and rode away with the bright red mountain bike presented as the take-home award for the Riverlea Farm Award