Mr Blue-son Simon wins Finalm Silvana HDC in 3rd place and Sterrehof’s Tamino in 7th.

Beezie Madden and Simon claimed the 2013 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Jumping title at the end of an epic battle in the Scandinavium Arena in Gothenburg, Sweden today. It was a back-to-back win for the USA following last year’s victory of Rich Fellers and Flexible who ended a 25-year drought for his country in 2012, and Madden is only the fifth woman ever to hold the coveted trophy in her hands.

This was a tough day of jumping and a cliff-hanger of a competition right to very end. Not one of the 23 starters managed to complete Uliano Vezzani’s first-round track without penalty, and only three left all the fences up in the second round and one of those – Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson – collected just a single time fault. Madden went into a third-round head-to-head with Olympic champion Steve Guerdat, but the 30-year-old Swiss rider had to settle for runner-up spot for the second year in a row while it was the strains of the Star Spangled Banner that rang out around the arena during the emotional prize-giving ceremony as 49-year-old Madden claimed the spoils.

KWPN placings:

1, Beezie Madden (USA) with Simon – Mr. Blue x Naline ster prest by Polydox, breeder: M.J. Vermeulen
3, Kevin Staut (FRA) with Silvana HDC – Corland x Donate keur pref prest by Widor, breeder B.J. Ter Denge
7, Marc Houtzager (NED) with Sterrehof’s Tamino – Numero Uno pref x Larianne by Farmer, breeder: E. ten Hoor

Full standings here https://results.scgvisual.com/2013/goteborg/worldcup.html

(Source FEI/KWPN)