Colombia's Mark Bluman and Landon de Nyze claimed victory in the $116,100 Adequan WEF Challenge Cup Round 4 at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Canadian Olympian Erynn Ballard secured second place aboard Dior. The event featured a two-round grand prix qualifier on the grass derby field.
The 2026 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), running through March 29 in Wellington, Florida, hosted Round 4 of the Adequan WEF Challenge Cup on Thursday, January 30. Colombia's Mark Bluman rode Landon de Nyze to a flawless performance, finishing the jump-off in 50.15 seconds with zero faults to win the $116,100 prize. This marks their second victory in six international starts together over two competitions.
Bluman, who took over the ride on the 13-year-old Zangersheide gelding in November, praised the horse's qualities. "I’m very thankful for him — I’ve never ridden a horse of such caliber; he’s careful, tries hard, and we were well-suited from the first moment," Bluman said. Previously ridden by his cousin Daniel Bluman and World No. 1 Kent Farrington, Landon helped secure a team gold and individual silver for the USA at the 2023 Pan American Games under Farrington.
Canadian Erynn Ballard, an Olympian, was the only other double-clear round, placing second on the 12-year-old Swedish mare Dior (Diamantino x VDL Al Cantino), owned by Ilan Ferder. They clocked 50.59 seconds. America's Lillie Keenan finished third on nine-year-old Emerlon (Emerald x Toulon), owned by Chansonette Farm, with the fastest jump-off time of 47.85 seconds but carrying one fault from the first round.
The competition was a two-round grand prix qualifier designed by Anderson Lima of Brazil, where the top 12 pairs advanced to the jump-off with faults carried over. Bluman credited advice from Farrington for his strategy: "He told me not to ride him so slowly, which would make it easier for him. Today, I was trying to do that."
Landon is set to compete in Saturday's $215,000 MARS Equestrian CSI4* Grand Prix. Earlier that day, other highlights included Matthew Body of Great Britain winning the Griffis Residential CSI2* Speed on Keatingstown Miami, Christian Kukuk of Germany taking the Dodd Technologies 1.45m on Viki van Gogh, and Canada's Eric Krawitt winning the Bainbridge Companies 1.40m aboard Opium JW van de Moerhoeve TN for Chansonette Farm.
