Madden, Wylde Earn Team Spots

Beezie Madden and her horse, Authentic, had a perfect Sunday.

During a dank drizzle in the fifth of six rounds of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Olympic show jumping trials at Oaks Blenheim Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, and then again in the afternoon when the day brightened, Madden and Authentic floated over fences, walls, water, over all the obstacles placed in front of them.

Madden, 40, from Cazenovia, N.Y., and 9-year-old Authentic finished the four days and six rounds of jumping with eight total faults and none Sunday. Four faults are given for knocking down a brick or rail on a jump and one fault is given per minute over the time standard.

With her win, Madden, the top-rated show jumper in the U.S. and fourth-rated in the world, assured herself one of four spots on the U.S. Olympic team.

She and Authentic also won the $175,000 Cargill Grand Prix of the U.S., which ran in conjunction with the trials.

Peter Wylde, 38, of Dover Plains, N.Y., and 13-year-old Fein Cera finished second and earned the other guaranteed spot. Wylde, who has lived in Maastricht, Holland, for three years “to compete against the best all the time and to get better,” also made his first Olympic team.McLain Ward, 28, of Brewster, N.Y., finished third in the trials but the federation has the discretion to name the third and fourth members of the team by criteria other than the Olympic trials.

The federation does not need to release an official short list of names for the Olympic team for 48 hours.

Chris Kappler, 37, of Pittstown, N.J., had been given a bye onto the list based on his strong performances on Royal Kaliber in 2003.

Margie Engle, a 2000 Olympian, hopes to be on the list also. Engle rode one perfect round on her horse, Hidden Creek’s Perin, then withdrew from the trials to continue rehabilitating a broken hip she suffered in February. Engle hopes she proved Perin is in good form. Doctors have told her she needs another month of rest before she should try jumping.

Three hours after Sunday’s jumping was over Wylde and Madden said the enormousness of the day had yet to sink in.

“This has been a lifetime dream, a lifetime goal,” Wylde said. “Making an Olympic team has been the one championship event to elude me.”

Madden said she was still awestruck and gave all the credit to Authentic.

“He’s a young horse still but he was the hero of the day,” she said.