THERMAL, Calif.--The Maccabi United team of Daniel Bluman on Hummer Z, Mark Bluman on Phelina de Septon and Uma O’Neill on Luigi d’Eclipse
moved to the top of the Major League Show Jumping team standings following a win in the $200,000 CSI5* Team Competition on Dec. 5 during Desert Holiday 1.
Daniel Bluman on Hummer Z (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)In the MLSJ format, there are eight teams of seven riders.but only three riders from each team compete in each leg.
Then in each leg, the eight teams of three compete with the top four teams going on to a second round, then if there's a tie one member of each team is chosen.
Two identical courses are set and those two go head to head over the identical courses with the winner the one with the fastest time under the faults-converted format, with three seconds added per knockdown.
Prior to Friday night, the Maccab team was second in the overall standings – and it was also second at the end of the night’s first round.
in round two, O’Neill and Mark Bluman were clean, but the Archer team of of Niclola Philippaerts on H&M Que Sera, Alex Matz on Junior Kannan and Callie Schott on Garan also had two clean, so there was a jump-off.
DANIEL BLUMAN faced off against Archer’s team member Nicola Philippaerts.
“I thought Hummer jumped amazing both rounds,” said Daniel Bluman. “In the jump-off, we were going really, really fast. I know Nico was coming back behind me, and I thought that the best strategy was to really put up a very, very strong time. If for some reason I knocked one down, it was still going to be enough pressure that we still had a chance to win.”
Daniel Bluman’s strategy worked.
While he had a fence down and Philippaerts was clean, under the class’s faults-converted format, Bluman’s time was fast enough to clinch the win.
The Archers won the silver medal, and bronze was team Helios, represented by Rene Dittmer, Michael Duffy and Richard Vogel.
“It means a lot to win and move into the lead,” said Mark Bluman. “That was the goal from the beginning when we started the league. Our family owns the team, and we are very competitive. Daniel, myself, my brother, we’re all very competitive, so we set a goal of trying to be at the top of the league at the end of the season, and so far, the strategy has been working. We’ve been lucky that we’ve gotten results in every single leg.”
“I think that the most important part with our team is that we really have a good time,” said Daniel Bluman. “We are very welcoming to everyone that is riding. Although, like Mark was saying, we own the team as a family, we want everyone that is riding on our team to feel like part of the family. I think that was the greatest challenge for us, especially when I decided to ride in the team this season. We wanted to make sure that the team was Maccabi United and not Team Bluman, which is completely different. I feel that everyone that is riding with us in the team feels it and tries hard and knows that we back them 100 percent, no matter what. I think that that’s really the key to the success that we’ve had. Everyone is trying hard. We’re putting in the good horses; we’re really giving a good effort, and we do everything with a great energy.”
