Traverse City, Mich. – June 13, 2021 – The first week of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show (TCS), presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, concluded Sunday afternoon with the highly anticipated $213,300 Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel Grand Prix CSI4*. A total of 25 talented international horse-and-rider combinations had their shot at the lion’s share of the prize money, with seven hopeful athletes advancing to the jump-off tie-breaker. Taking a gamble on his up-and-coming mount Cachemire de Braize, Israel’s Daniel Bluman played his cards right to emerge victorious as the winner for the second day in a row at Flintfields Horse Park.
Course designer Guilherme Jorge (BRA) set forth a challenging 13-effort first round track fit for exciting CSI4* competition. With fences built up to the 1.60m height and the course featuring various difficult combinations, including a wall obstacle, the first round saw just seven horse-and-rider combinations navigate their way around the Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel International Ring leaving all of the rails intact. Clear efforts included Katie Laurie (AUS), John Perez Bohm (COL), Camilo Rueda (COL), Tiffany Foster (CAN), Margie Engle (USA), Robert Teran Tafur (COL) and Bluman (ISR).
Coming back to compete over a shortened 8-obstacle jump-off course, the seven qualified athletes returned to the arena putting their best foot forward. Leading the way with the first double-clear effort was rising talent Rueda aboard his own Indus Van Het Keysereck. As the third pair to tackle the jump-off course, Rueda and the 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding cut corners and left out strides to lay down an impressive ride in 33.67 seconds. Their time seemed near impossible to overtake, until veteran athlete Bluman entered the arena riding Over the Top Stables LLC’s Cachemire de Braize. As the winning pair from Saturday’s $36,600 1.45m Winning Round CSI4*, Bluman and the 9-year-old Selle Français gelding had plenty of confidence going into the jump-off round. Leaving it all in the arena to conclude the class, Bluman and Cachemire de Braize moved swiftly across the ground to make up as much time as they could. Their efforts paid off as they crossed through the timers in 33.01 seconds, ultimately lending the pair the first place honors. Rueda and Indus Van Het Keysereyck claimed second place with Engle and Royce, owned by Gladewind Partners LLC, taking home third place for their 35.64-second jump-off.
Capping off an incredible week of awards, Bluman earned a whopping 24 points towards the 2021 CaptiveOne Advisors Open Jumper Rider Bonus, claiming his rightful spot at the top of the leaderboard at the conclusion of Week I of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show. Katie Laurie moved down just one spot to finish the week in the second position with 18 total points, while Jonathan McCrea held his spot in the top three to end the week in the third position with 14 points. Offering show jumping competitors the chance to accumulate points throughout the 12-week Traverse City Horse Shows series, the bonus is awarded to the athlete with the most points at the conclusion of the 2021 $230,000 American Gold Cup Grand Prix CSI5*, presented by CaptiveOne Advisors. The CaptiveOne Advisors Open Jumper Rider Bonus is a highly sought-after prize among the field of international competitors that attend Traverse City Horse Shows.
Week II of the Traverse City Spring Horse Show, presented by Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel, will kick-off Monday, June 14, spotlighting hunter competitors throughout the week and highlighting the $15,000 Platinum Performance USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by the Ingram Family, and the $5,000 Traverse City Derby Wednesday, June 16. Show jumping competitors can look forward to the $72,900 Four G Surfaces Grand Prix CSI2* set to take place Sunday, June 20.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Daniel Bluman – $213,300 Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel Grand Prix CSI4* winner
On Cachemire de Braize:
“I wasn’t even going to bring [Cachemire de Braizee], I’ll be honest. Mark Bluman, my cousin, has been riding him but I felt I was coming a little weak here this week and I wanted to have a speed horse to jump in the other classes, so I put Cachemire in the truck. At the end we were able to ride two horses in this class so I put him in the [$213,300 Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel Grand Prix CSI4*] just to see what happened. Things didn’t work out for me with the stallion [Ubiluc], I turned too tight to fence number two and the horse didn’t really get a chance to see it. He jumped good after that but I was disappointed and I really gave my best today with Cachemire, both in the first round and the jump-off, so I’m thrilled.”
On the jump-off:
“It makes me so proud, you can’t imagine how proud it makes me to see four Columbians in the jump-off. We had John [Perez Bohm], Roberto [Teran Tafur] and we had Camilo [Rueda] who is the youngest of us. I represent Israel but of course I was born in Columbia and I have very close ties to Columbia, so it makes me really proud to see Columbia doing so well. Camilo put in an incredible performance. What he did in the jump-off, I turned around to Roberto and I said, ‘I think it’s over.’ To be honest with you, with any other horse that I have it would have been over. But Cachemire is one of my faster horses and he is used to going fast because that is his job, and I gave everything I had and it paid off. Congratulations to Camilo but I’m happy, I tried and it worked out.”
On where he made up the time:
“I think I was a touch faster from fence one to two than Camilo [Rueda] was, then I think I was quite a bit the same everywhere else. Then to the last line I did one less stride. It walked very long in eight strides and I did seven strides. I was committed and it worked out!”
RESULTS
$213,300 Turtle Creek Casino & Hotel Grand Prix CSI4*
Place / Horse / Rider / Country / Owner / R1 Faults | R1 Time / R2 Faults | R2 Time
1. Cachemire De Braize / Daniel Bluman / ISR / Over The Top Stables LLC / 0 | 78.710 / 0 | 33.010
2. Indus Van Het Keysereyck / Camilo Rueda / COL / Camilo Rueda / 0 | 78.340 / 0 | 33.670
3. Royce / Margie Engle / USA / Gladewinds Partners LLC / 0 | 76.730 / 0 | 35.640
4. Dez Ooktoff / Roberto Teran Tafur / COL / Roberto Teran / 0 | 80.500 / 0 | 37.680
5. Casebrooke Lomond / Katie Laurie / CAN / Katie Laurie / 0 | 80.050 / 4 | 36.210
6. Desperado / John Perez Bohm / COL / Daniel Rihan Salum / 0 | 81.750 / 4 | 37.830
7. Hamilton / Tiffany Foster / CAN / The Hamilton Group / 0 | 81.260 / 8 | 37.210
8. Northern Light / Tiffany Foster / CAN / Artisan Farms LLC / 4 | 75.390
9. Fantasy BB / Jonathan McCrea / USA / Windsor Show Stables / 4 | 77.760
10. Ashton Dakota / Rowan Willis / AUS / Rowan Willis / 4 | 78.250
11. Lutz / Ali Ramsay / CAN / Ramsay Equestrian Inc / 4 | 78.380
12. VooDoo 10 / John Perez Bohm / COL / John Perez Bohm / 4 | 79.580
