February 25, 2018 
Two five-star grand prix. Two victories for Israel. Two riders named Dan.
We’re sensing a pattern here?
The show jumping featherweight that is the nation of Israel is dominating the five-star weeks at the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida and it has everything to do with a pair of expressive Daniel(le)s.
In week 5, new Israeli Daniel Bluman (he changed nationalities from Colombian last year) captured the first CSI 5* grand prix of the season—the $384,000 Fidelity Investments® Grand Prix. This was his victory hat tip.
On Saturday, the second five-star of the 12-week circuit went to Israel’s other Dan—Danielle Goldstein.
The 32-year-old rider beat a field of 39 to claim victory in the $384,000 Rolex Grand Prix with Lizziemary. You can’t see it well in the presentation photo, but there’s a party going on under her helmet and it features a wild assortment of beaded and ribboned hair.
Of the six horse-and-rider combinations to advance to the jump off in the Anthony D’Ambrosio-designed course, Goldstein and the 12-year-old AES mare were third to go in the order. Their blistering time of 35.92 seconds held to the end.
“I got a good shot at the skinny, and I saw it, and I thought, ‘Alright, it’s there. I’m just going to kick and hope it works out,’” said Goldstein. “The horse jumped great, so tonight it worked!”
The time was so competitive, USA’s McLain Ward credits the Israeli rider for forcing the error that relegated him and his Olympic mount HH Azur to third. Last to go, the 2017 FEI World Cup champion faulted at the final fence to finish half a second behind in 36.60 seconds.
“Azur was brilliant,” said Ward.
“Dani put up a great jump-off round. It wasn’t easy to beat. She did eight (strides) to the last, which I actually hadn’t walked. I thought it was nine. When I rolled back on the skinny, it didn’t show up exactly the way I wanted. I thought the mare made a great move to clear it, but we landed very far to the left. I just didn’t see the line to do it, and I chickened out and did the nine. I knew the nine was too slow, so I was trying to do the nine quickly, and I just drove her through the front rail. It was rider error, but it was rider error because Dani put up a great effort. I wasn’t going to be able to back into winning, so congratulations to her.”
The victory is one Goldstein—and Israel—won’t soon forget.
“It’s huge,” she said of the success for Israel.
“Winning any grand prix in Wellington is a big deal, but winning one of the five stars is really unbelievable. Daniel [Bluman] has won two grand prix this season, so it’s been a big season first of all, which I think is wonderful. We’ve been building for a few years, trying to get a number of riders up to this level. We’re a bit of a close-knit group. It means the world to us. All we want to do is go to the Olympics and represent our country well. Okay, everybody wants to win a medal, but for us, for Israel, it’s a huge deal. I think the country has never fielded an equestrian team at the Olympics.’”
With two more five-star weeks to come at WEF, can Israeli keep the streak alive?
