“Thank you for coming. See you next year.”
Daniel Bluman, winner of Saturday night’s $226,000 Kentucky CSI3* Invitational Grand Prix, greeted fan after fan from a crowd of 10,224 as they passed while he rode in a golf cart from the Rolex Stadium to a post-competition press conference.
The competition he won with his long-time mount, Gemma, at the Kentucky Horse Park meant a lot to him. He explained there’s nothing else like it in this country in terms of the size of the crowd and the atmosphere.
“In my opinion, the most beautiful part of this grand prix is the crowd,” Daniel observed.
“We owe them for how good this grand prix is,” he added, explaining why he made an effort to connect one-on-one with fans.
Daniel Bluman and Gemma take a bow. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“The turnout of people and how supportive they are to every rider, it brings such an atmosphere…that is not something you get to see in North America very often anymore. It’s really cool to have an atmosphere like that.”
He was one of 39 starters in the class, which took place as an extra attraction after a day of cross-country competition in the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event.
The jumper feature drew 39 starters over Guilherme Jorge’s course, which topped out at 1.55 meters. The 10 best came back for a second round, in which entries placed on the basis of faults and time. In addition to Daniel, clocked in 46.3 seconds for the win, those who wound up with double-clear trips included the USA’s rapidly rising star, Lacey Gilbertson with Karlin Van’t Vennehof (0/0/47.16) in second place, and her trainer, Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam, aboard James Kann Cruz (0/0/48.03) in third. Last year’s winner, Conor Swail of Ireland, missed the podium with a double clear on Casturano in 48.79. The only other double-clear was Great Britain’s Jessica Mendoza, fifth on I-Cap CL Z (0/0/49.67).
The grand prix podium: Daniel Bluman (center), Lacey Gilbertson and Shane Sweetnam.
Daniel started working with Gemma, who is 12, seven years ago.
“She’s become really fast all over the place,” he said.
“She has a lot of personality, and from the beginning, she was a very careful horse. She wanted to leave the jumps up. She’s very sensitive, but we’ve grown into having a very nice partnership, which is what I aim to have with my horses. She’s part of my family by now. She’s a really smart horse, and as the years go by and she jumps more rounds, she learns more and becomes quicker.”
Daniel rides for Israel and is optimistic that country’s team will qualify for the Paris Olympics next year. He noted the addition of Robin Moore from France to the squad is a plus. It also includes Californian Ashlee Bond, and Daniel’s cousin, Mark, will soon be joining the Israeli contingent.
As always, the national anthem of the winner is played during the awards ceremony, and Daniel got emotional when asked about his feelings upon hearing Hatikvah, the Israeli anthem.
He formerly rode for Colombia, but changed his citizenship to honor his roots. His grandfather, he explained, spent three years in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
“Israel has a very deep meaning for myself and my family. It’s a country that represents a lot for the Jewish people. It has really changed the situation for the Jewish communities around the world, to know you have a country that will always welcome you and always protect you,” he said.
“I felt if I could add a little bit to what Israel means by representing it in the world and trying to let the world know there is a side of Israel that perhaps is not often spoken about. But I feel it was sort of my obligation to do that, something that would make me proud.
“I feel I owe it to my grandfather,” Daniel explained.
“If he didn’t make it through those three years in the concentration camp, we wouldn’t be around here. I get very excited every time I hear Hatikvah.”
Lacey and Karly, who was Shane’s mount previously, have made quite an impression on the show jumping scene in the year since she’s been riding the mare.
Lacey Gilbertson and Karly. (Photo © 2023 by Nancy Jaffer)
“She’s naturally fast, very brave, and we get along really well,” said Lacey.
Shane is glad to have matched Karly with his student (even as she finished ahead of him in the class) and he is excited at how well James Kann Cruz is doing.
The handsome gray gelding “is still young, only 10 and still changing, but he loves to jump, as everyone can see,” Shane said.
“He’s impressive, can be a bit of a handful, but he knows his job.” Shane added, “There’s still a lot of room for improvement for him, and hopefully, if I’m lucky to have him stay healthy and keep loving his job, fingers crossed, we are still only on the way up.”
Click here for complete results from the class presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
