Edited Press Release
Myakka City, Fla. – March 15, 2024 – The TerraNova Winter Series features four weeks of hunter/jumper competition at TerraNova Equestrian Center, Florida’s premier equestrian destination. Each week showcases all levels of hunter/jumper competition, from elite international show jumpers and national hunters to cross rails and children’s classes.
Friday’s competition featured 39 horses contesting the 11-fence track designed by Mauricio Garcia Ballesteros (PUR) with a time allowed of 83 seconds in the $32,000 Galati Yacht Sales FEI 1.45m Welcome Speed. Repeating his win from Winter Series Week II, Daniel Bluman (ISR) walked away victorious, this time aboard Cachemire de Braize (Quality Touch x Pashmina de Braize).
Ballesteros’ course began with a vertical-to-oxer opening line ridden in seven or eight strides, two one-stride combinations past the VIP pavilion and various options for tight inside turns to showcase speed. Riders who successfully navigated these turns saw quick times while others had the front rail down at fence five.
Bluman and Cachemire de Braize, an 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding owned by Bluman, Alex Yadgarov, Mikhail Ilyaich and Over the Top Stables LLC, bested the field with a time of 61.94.
“I was lucky to go late in the draw with a horse that is very good for these classes,” Bluman said. “I had the opportunity to see the other riders go. There were some very fast rounds, so I knew the track I had to take in order to win it, and Cach (Cachemire de Braize) was very good.”
The win marks Bluman’s second Welcome victory at TerraNova in 2024, having won the Welcome at TerraNova Winter Series Week II aboard Gemma W. “I try to go and perform in every class I go in,” Bluman said. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, but at least we already had one win in the bag, which was great. It’s a great show to produce young horses and to get the older horses going. We enjoy it and the horses jump very well.”
Riding to second place less than a second behind Bluman was Luiz Francisco de Azevedo (BRA) aboard Collin (Colandro x Oberlina), a 16-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Santa Cecilia Stables LLC. Rounding out the top three was Darragh Kenny (IRL) aboard Serendepety, an 8-year-old entry of Beerbaum Stables GMBH, stopping the clock at 63.17 seconds.
