Upperville, Va. – June 7, 2026 – International show jumping took center stage once again in Virginia Hunt Country during the 2026 Upperville Colt and Horse Show as athletes vied for top honors during the $200,000 Upperville Jumper Classic CSI4*, sponsored by Lugano Diamonds and Ethel M Chocolates. A field of 20 combinations was narrowed down to six for the jump-off, where Israel’s Daniel Bluman had all the luck on his side to gallop to victory aboard Hummer Z. Chloe Reid and Crossover 4 had the first double clear of the day to place second, while hometown hero Sloane Coles rounded out the top three aboard Ninja JW Van De Moerhoeve.
“The first time I came to Upperville was 18 years ago. I like to tell this story because it was the first show that I did outside of Florida. I jumped over there in that ring on the other side in the High Juniors on Friday and I had eight rails down – so it was a very different start to my experience in Upperville,” laughed Bluman after his win. “I’ve seen the show grow over all these years. The organizing committee and the people are super, super nice. This is a very traditional grand prix. Everyone who lives in the United States knows about this grand prix and how many great riders and horses have won it. We jump a lot of classes week after week, grand prix all over the world, but there are some grand prix that mean something, and it’s nice to win so that you can be together with those great horses and riders that came before you.”
A huge crowd gathered at the Upperville Showgrounds to watch athletes compete over Alan Wade’s 14-obstacle track, which featured an aqueduct wall, a vertical-oxer double combination, and an oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination. Six pairs cleared the first course without error and advanced to the tiebreaker. The jump-off began over a new vertical in a bending line. They then continued to the Lugano liverpool line before rolling back to the first part of the triple combination and making their way over a final ‘S’-line.
Reid was fourth to return and the first to clear the short course with her veteran partner Crossover 4. They set the time to beat at 36.74 seconds to take over the top spot, but their lead would not hold for long as Bluman entered the ring next with Hummer Z. He did the same striding down the first line as Reid, but then the rollback to the combination almost cost him the class. His horse made a huge effort to clear the first oxer without touching a rail, and the tight turn proved to be the winning move as they dashed through the timers in a faultless 34.95 seconds. Coles was the last rider to return, and was focused on a clear round with Ninja JW Van De Moerhoeve. Their conservative track was good enough for third place as they stopped the clock at 37.43 seconds and Bluman returned to lead the lap of honor.
“To the combination, I honestly never was able to turn, so I ran out of ring – there was no more ring,” explained Bluman. “I just sort of was able to get in there, and I was completely sure that there was no possible way that I could leave that combination faultless, but we did. Then after that I truly believed that I was going to win today!”
Bluman added, “Hummer is a horse owned by Ms. Abigail Wexner. He was produced by Beezie Madden, and I got the ride two years ago. Since then, he has only delivered time and time again. Hummer is a very special horse. He’s not the easiest to ride – he has a lot of blood, he has a lot of personality. He’s a big boy, so it’s not easy to contain all that energy and the rideability is something that we’re always working on, but he really wants to leave the jumps up and he can move his body really quickly. He’s a really fun horse to have around. He’s very kind and he’s really unbelievable.”
The $200,000 Upperville Jumper Classic CSI4* marked the conclusion of the 2026 Upperville Colt and Horse Show, but competition will continue at the showgrounds next week during the 75th Loudoun Benefit Horse Show, presented by Piedmont Equine Practice. Highlight events will include the $20,000 USHJA Pony Hunter Derby Championships and the $50,000 Grand Prix, sponsored by Michael Smith. For more information, please visit LoudounBenefit.org.
