High Star Hero wins the night for McLain Ward and Michael Smith
Champagne was the order of the day for McLain Ward after he and Michael and Wendy Smith’s High Star Hero landed victory in the $500,000 CSI5* Grand Prix in front of a Saturday Night Lights’ capacity crowd at Wellington International. McLain took his lead from the opposition, going first in a five-strong jump off to finish in a winning time of 39.14 seconds ahead of Mark Bluman and Landon de Nyze in the runner up’s time of 39.71 – and Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz’s third place round in 39.91.
“As these guys were clear [in the first round] it actually was making my decision easier,” said USA Olympian McLain. “All of them are super fast riders on very fast horses, and I knew they were gonna risk everything to win, so I kind of had to do what I thought was the winning plan. My horse responded beautifully. He’s really been jumping great for the last six months or so. I couldn’t ask more.”
The win came on the back of what McLain described as a “challenging personal beginning to the year,” the sentiment reflecting in part on the loss of Michael’s horse Imperial HBF, to incurable complications from colic. ‘Paddy’ as he was known at home, was fast building a strong and successful partnership with McLain, having been with him less than a year when tragedy struck earlier this month.
“My team has rallied and kind of put their head down and just been through the grind and I’m proud of them and proud of the horse and proud to bring this home tonight,” McLain said.
Mark, who recently partnered with Landon – the former mount of world number two Kent Farrington – first competed with the 13-year old gelding in December of last year. The pair were taking on their first five-star Grand Prix together. “I’m not competing to be second, so I was a little disappointed with myself, not with the horse,” said Mark. “Because I could have taken more of a risk going into the double. In the qualifier [on Thursday], I took a risk to the double and had it down, so I was cautious.”
Mark has repeatedly thanked his cousin Daniel Bluman, for handing over the ride on Landon to him, after buying the horse from Kent. “Having a horse like this just means the world to me,” he said. He had similar sentiments to the company he kept on the podium, alongside McLain – who he recalled looking up to in his childhood – and Irishman, Shane. “I come from Colombia, and it’s not a country with a horse background, so to be sitting here with people that I grew up watching riding horses, it means the world,” he said.
Saturday Night Lights – a weekly climax of the 13-week strong Winter Equestrian Festival – draws a mixed crowd encompassing the gamut between showjumping fanatics and casual observers. McLain, 50, who has been showing for some 45 years, having started young in the pony classes, has been a mainstay of the top level, showcased classes for many years and as such is a household name in Wellington.
“The community has gotten so engaged,” the world’s number 10 said. “And I also noticed [are] getting more and more educated about the sport, even if they’re not horse people, which you don’t see often in America. That just shows what an important part of this community equestrian sports are. It’s wonderful to be welcomed and cheered and see how engaged not only the fans are, but also the young generation. I think there’s gonna be fans here for many years to come.”
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