Daniel Bluman and Cachemire De Braize Ride to the Win in the $10,000 FEI 2* 1.40m Welcome Speed at TerraNova Equestrian Center
Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Cachemire De Braize. Photo by Jessica Buehler Photography
Myakka City, Fla. – March 24, 2023 – It was a gorgeous afternoon as nearly 50 horses contested the Joe Rycroft-designed course in the $10,000 FEI 2* 1.40m Welcome Speed during TerraNova Hunter/Jumper Week 4. Israel’s Daniel Bluman aboard Cachemire De Braize blazed through the timers to secure the win for the second consecutive week.
The track consisted of 12 numbered fences and 14 jumping efforts including two combinations, an oxer-vertical and a double of verticals, and a liverpool. The time allowed of 74 seconds proved rideable with 16 clear rounds with six pairs incurring only time faults.
“I want them to have a nice gallop and get really stretched out for tomorrow,” Rycroft said. “I'm just looking for a slight bit of technicality in the course today. I want to give nice options, but I want to keep it flowing and on a nice rhythm the whole way around.
“I have a slight bend in five to a plank that might come up a little quieter than the riders walk,” Rycroft said. “And then if they go direct in six (strides) to the following combination, it's very difficult. I'm more looking for a seven there, which is what I think most of the riders will take.”
The top plank at fence four came down a few times and the bending line from the Helm Limited liverpool to the oxer-vertical one stride rode anywhere from six to eight strides with a majority of riders taking the waiting, even seven-stride option.
Rycroft talked about his strategy for the Welcome course. “I want to have everybody as confident and on top of their game as I can in a Welcome,” he said. “So then they come in and they're strong and I can be strong with the course according to how they are.”
Daniel Bluman and Cachemire De Braize. Photo by Jessica Buehler Photography
As 41 in the order, Bluman and Cachemire De Braize (Quality Touch x Pashmina De Braize) bested a field of world-class riders including Peter Leone (USA), Darragh Kenny (IRL), Kent Farrington (USA) and Ashlee Bond (ISR). Bluman and the 11-year-old gelding, owned by Over the Top Stables, stopped the timers in 61.960 seconds, more than two seconds faster than the second-place pair of Rupert Carl Winklemann (GER) and Omar Van de Hunters (Hunters Scendro x Endless).
“He’s a cool horse to have in my string,” said Bluman of Cachemire De Braize, or Cache as he’s called. “He has his own very personal way of jumping and of going. He's been with us for several years. He started with us when he was seven.
"He's very fast. He's competitive. He likes it here at TerraNova," he added.
TerraNova Hunter/Jumper Week 4 competition continues Saturday, March 25 with the featured class, the $77,300 The Estates at TerraNova FEI 2* 1.45m Grand Prix at 11 a.m. with a Grand Prix Brunch in the VIP Pavilion.
Daniel Bluman talks about his mount Cachemire De Braize and his win in the $10,000 FEI 1.40m Welcome Speed.
Top: Daniel Bluman aboard Cachemire De Braize with Mike Belisle from Helm Limited
Bottom left: Rupert Carl Winklemann and Omar Van de Hunters
Bottom right: Hallie Grimes and Malissa De Muze
Photos by Jessica Buehler Photography
$10,000 FEI 2* 1.40m Welcome Speed
CACHEMIRE DE BRAIZE / Daniel Bluman (ISR) / Over the Top Stables, LLC / 0 / 61.960
OMAR VAN DE HUNTERS / Rupert Carl Winklemann (GER) / Eickendorf Horses Gmbh & Co. kg / 0 / 64.030
MALISSA DE MUZE / Hallie Grimes (USA) / Can We Keep It? LLC / 0 / 64.130
CHICA / Tanimara Maria Macari Carrillo (MEX) / Eikendorf Horses Gmbh & Co. kg / 0 64.530
CALVADOS SON / Rupert Carl Winklemann (GER) / Eickendorf Horses Gmbh & Co. kg / 0 / 64.820
OLYMPIA VAN HET EIKENHOF / Abigail Mc Ardle (USA) / Sweetwater Jumpers LLC / 0 / 65.680
ATEVLA / Samantha Wight (USA) / Melissa Wight / 0 / 66.590
UBILUC / Mark Bluman (COL) / Over the Top Stables LLC / 0 / 69.830
MADAGASCAR DWERSE HAGEN / Darragh Kenny (IRL) / Amanda Louise Derbyshire / 0 / 70.590
HAMRAH VAN HET EXELHOF Z / Darrah Kenny (IRL) / Heathman Farm, LLC / 0 / 70.850
Madeline Brooks and Clearview Earn Top Honors
in the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby at TerraNova Equestrian Center
Madeline Brooks and Clearview win the $5,000 USHJA National Derby. Photo by Jessica Buehler Photography
Aboard beautifully turned out mounts, riders donned their shadbellies and traditional attire for the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby at TerraNova Equestrian Center. Junior Madeline Brooks and Clearview jumped to a two-round score of 160 in the main hunter ring to take top honors.
Clearview is a newer mount for Brooks. “He’s actually my equitation horse,” she said. “I’ve only had him for about a few months, but he’s just so perfect. He always goes out and tries his best.
“It was a nice, flowing course and we just went out to have fun,” she added.
The 15-year-old dark bay gelding, owned by Hannah Dodd, and Brooks had a first-round score of 76. They came back for the handy round sitting in second place behind Mackenzie Suffy and Brighton’s score of 79.
Brooks enjoyed the tight turn options in the handy round and commented that because of Clearview’s equitation background, he managed it easily. The pair rode a tidy round to earn a base score of 80 plus four high options for a second-round total of 84.
“This is my first time ever showing here,” Brooks said. “The barns are like no other barn at any show I’ve been to. It’s like paradise.”
Hear from Madeline Brooks about her win in the $5,000 USHJA National Derby.
Coming in second was Mackenzie Suffy and her other mount, Reddington RW, a bay Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Angela Jager. Suffy and Reddington RW scored a 143 total. Suffy and Brighton (Quarterback x Poetin LLL), owned by Lee Ann Ingram, rounded out the top three with scores of 79 and 44 respectively.
Dean Battaglia returned to TerraNova to set the track for the $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. The classic round provided many opportunities for the horse-and-rider combinations to showcase their strengths, beginning with an option fence off the left lead headed toward the ingate. Battaglia’s flowing course utilized the entire ring with only three lines of related distances.