Landon De Nyze jumps straight to win with new rider

A lot of attention last weekend for the CHI de Genève in Switzerland, but also on the other side of the big ocean, the past few days saw another five-star competition. For the second week in a row, the international show jumping fraternity was there as a guest at Termal's Desert International Horse Park in California, where some Z-horses once again managed to provide nice and striking results.

One such name in the line-up was that of the 12-year-old chestnut gelding Landon De Nyze, the son of our chestnut stallion Comilfo Plus Z and Quadrillo who was born Crack De Nyze Z at breeder Danny Nijs. Landon made a name for himself in recent years under the saddle of American world number one Kent Farrington, but was purchased by Israeli rider Daniel Bluman at the beginning of this year. However, the latter currently has the Grand Prix horses to choose from and therefore recently put Landon De Nyze at the disposal of his nephew Mark Bluman, who rides under the Colombian flag. After Mark Bluman and Landon De Nyze got to know each other a little at two-star level a fortnight ago, they made their debut at five-star level last weekend with great success. Indeed, on Thursday, the new duo jumped to victory in the 1.55m Grand Prix Qualifier. In a jump-off for which eight out of forty-two combinations managed to qualify, Bluman and Landon De Nyze raced to the finishing line in 40.75 seconds, more than a full second ahead of the rest of the field.

Mark Bluman: " Daniel is going to heaven if he keeps giving me horses like this (laughs). He had a lot of horses to ride recently and he knew this horse could be a good match for me. Right from the moment he bought him, he said, 'Listen, I think this could be a good match for you. Let me try it and see how it goes, but I know you'll ride it eventually.' So now it's up to me!"

"Because I knew Nina Mallevaey was still coming behind me, I really tried to give it my all. I didn't give full throttle, because of course I don't know the horse that well yet.... I think in the last metres I took advantage of being on a super careful horse. I just rushed to the last straight and which he took without any problems!"

Daniel Bluman also appeared in the competition ring himself in Thermal, however, and he too managed to secure a blue-and-yellow victory. Indeed, in the 1m50 class on Friday, he became the overall winner with the 11-year-old gelding Hummer Z, a son of Harley VDL and Hemmingway bred in the Netherlands by the Bocken family. In their class against the clock, Bluman and Hummer Z finished in 69.98 seconds, just under a full second ahead of the competition.

In the CSI4* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, Bluman managed to secure another top ranking with his 10-year-old grey mare Corbie V.V. Z, the daughter of Cornet Obolensky and Chacco Blue from the breeding farm of Evelyne and Colin van Vreckom. Bluman and Corbie V.V. Z stayed clear in the basic round, making them one of seven combinations that managed to advance to the jump-off. In it, they seemed to be on their way to taking the top prize, as they managed to put the fastest finishing time on the scoreboard in 37.63 seconds. Unfortunately, in their haste they also saw a bar roll out of the scoops, so they had to settle for ^4th place in the final.

Earlier on Saturday, Brazilian rider Eduardo Pereira de Menezes also managed to score another top 10 ranking with the 9-year-old stallion H5 Chilipepper Z, a breeding product of Dutchman Martin Poppen, who combined the blood of Crunch 3 with that of Diarado. Indeed, in the 1.50m class with Winning Round, Pereira de Menezes and H5 Chili Pepper Z secured ^7th place in the standings.