Last weekend wrapped up the first leg of Derek Braun’s Split Rock Jumping Tour, and the inaugural hosting of the event at the new Terranova Equestrian Center. Terranova just recently launched their competition venue in the October of 2021 with their first FEI sanctioned 3 day event. Wordley Martin has been a proud partner in developing this world class facility with the installation of 6 competition arenas, and 2 additional arenas for the private training facility.
The venue will also be hosting the Terranova Spring Series of hunter/jumper shows in March/April of 2022 – bringing a broad variety of equestrian competition to the Sarasota region!
Latest Press Release from the Conclusion of Split Rock Jumping Tour below.
Myakka City, Fla – Jan. 29, 2022– The $100,000 1.45m FEI Grand Prix, part of the first leg of the 2022 Split Rock Jumping Tour (SRJT), hosted at TerraNova Equestrian Center, treated spectators to electrifying show jumping with a nail-biting finish.
Olaf Petersen Jr. (GER) designed the 16-effort track. Out of 42 horse and rider combinations, 16 were clear and within the time allowed to progress to the short course. First to go in the jump-off round, the winners of Thursday’s $37,000 1.45m Welcome CSI2* Jessica Mendoza (GBR) and Windsor Farms’ Dublin (Cobra 18 x Calido 1) set a lightning-fast time to beat of 34.2 sec. The pair held on to the lead for 12 rounds until Alberto Michan (ISR) and Firewall, a black KWPN gelding (Lexicon x Bailey) owned by Eduardo Leon, put in a fault-free finish in 34.19. Last to go, Colombia’s Mark Bluman and Marilyn, a bay mare of unknown breeding owned by Over the Top Stables LLC, pulled out all the stops and edged out Michan to win the class.
An exuberant Bluman fist-pumped his way down the rail celebrating his win. Though he’s come close in the past, it was Bluman’s first international grand prix win.
“[Going last] I had time to watch everyone go, and the only thing to do was go as fast as I could and turn tight, and hope that the rails stay in place and they did for me,” he said. “I have been close multiple times and was really hoping to come here and get that under my belt,” he said. “Marilyn is not very experienced, but we have big hopes for her for this year.”
Bluman shared that his whole family has supported SRJT from the beginning. He said that the SRJT team always delivers great atmosphere, excellent footing and top-notch customer service.
About the TerraNova Equestrian Center, Bluman said, “I loved it. I’m impressed. We’re very lucky that people are making an effort to get more beautiful venues and more options for riders to go to different places.”
Split Rock Jumping Tour Sarasota International CSI2* will culminate on Sunday, Jan. 30, with the featured $20,000 1.35m National Prix. The remainder of the 2022 SRJT Tour will include a number of exciting stops, including new locations in Paso Robles, California and Portland, Oregon. To see the full schedule for the 2022 tour, visit our website here.