Beezie Madden and DeSilvio, the horse she has ridden for four years, win the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa in a jumpoff.
By CHRISTINA K. COSDON
Published March 29, 2004
TAMPA - Mere seconds determined the winner in Sunday's $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa, and Beezie Madden and DeSilvio couldn't be beat.
The 40-year-old veteran rider and her 9-year-old Dutch-bred bested a field of nine in the jumpoff with a time of 37.95 seconds. Madden of Cazenovia, N.Y., won $22,500.
"He was great," Madden said of the horse she has been riding for four years.
The course was in a newly constructed covered arena with overhead lights.
"It took him a while to get used to the lighting in here," she said. "He was very rideable today."
Thirty-six horse-and-rider teams competed in the first round on the technical course with 16 jumps. Before the class, international course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil said he expected about eight riders to complete it fault-free. In the jumpoff, Madden "tried to set the pace. I could have been beaten, but it wasn't so easy to go clear."
Derek Peterson, 37, of Archer and his 10-year-old German-bred Promised Land took the $16,500 second-place prize with a jumpoff time of 38.10. The win put him in the lineup for Saturday night's $200,000 American Invitational at Raymond James Stadium.
"It's been a dream of mine" for 17 years, Peterson said of the Invitational. He grew up in South Africa and moved to the United States in 1986.
"I didn't know he could jump," Peterson said of Promised Land, whom he bought four years ago as an equitation horse.
Alison Firestone, 27, of Upperville, Va., won third place and $9,750 with Casanova, her 14-year-old Swedish-bred. The pair finished in 38.91 and will compete in the Invitational.
"I was really happy with the way he jumped today," she said. "Usually, he gets better the more he goes."
Although the event was the final preliminary for the World Cup next month in Milan, Italy, Madden and Firestone said they would not go because they want to rest their horses before the Olympic trials in May in California.
Megan Lamaze of Toronto and her 10-year-old German-bred Chardo took fourth place and $6,000. Olympian Anne Kursinski of Flemington, N.J., came in fifth and won $4,500 with the 11-year-old German-bred Great Point.
