As the first to go clear in the $134,000 Grand Prix de Penn National Saturday night at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show (PNHS), Beezie Madden set a scorching time to beat. Her sharp turns and speedy footwork aboard Abigail Wexner’s Coach posted a time of 34.93 seconds, and onlookers wondered how it might be matched. Then the following three riders outpaced Madden, but only barely. The top four finishing places were separated by a mere 0.87 seconds.

Immediately following Madden’s round, Molly Ashe Cawley and Louisburg Farm’s Adamo were quick in the turns and hunted down the final line to finish in 34.06 seconds. Cawley’s lead held as reigning champion Beat Mändli aboard Galan S and Amy Millar with Truman produced similar rounds, stopping the clock at 34.15 and 34.61 respectively.

“At the last part of the jump-off, I threw style right on out the window and went for the ‘Hail Mary’ pony-kicking,” said Cawley, who had watched Madden’s round and was determined to beat it. “It was a little terrifying from where I was sitting, I’m not going to lie, but he (Adamo) was right there with me. He was good.”

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