February 22, 2026 
The floodlights at Wellington International cast their familiar glow over the International Ring Saturday night, illuminating a scene that has played out many times before: McLain Ward standing atop the podium, hat in hand, as the American anthem rang out. But for the 50-year-old American Olympian, this moment in the spotlight was cast in the shadow of darker days.
Just 12 days ago, Ward’s promising partner of just under a year, the 14-year-old Imperial, succumbed to a sudden and aggressive bout of colic. While dealing with that blow, the Castle Hill team was also grappling with personal challenges affecting one of their own.
On Saturday, Ward carried the weight of those hardships into the ring with him. But you never would have known it from the way he rode.
First to return for the five-horse jump off in the CSI5* Modon 1.60m Grand Prix, this time aboard the 11-year-old High Star Hero, he executed a precision round in 39.14 seconds that couldn’t be caught by four of the winningest pairs at WEF. On fire Mark Bluman and Landon de Nyze took second in 39.71 and spectacularly consistent Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz, third in 39.91.
The win was a testament not just to the horse’s agility and footspeed, but to the resilience of the man in the tack.
“It’s been a difficult start to the year for some reasons even other than the loss of the Imperial,” he admitted. “My team has rallied and put their heads down—it’s been a grind, and I’m proud of them, proud of the horse and proud to bring this home tonight.”
In a sport where heartbreak is an occupational hazard, Ward says that hard times are an opportunity to dig deeper.
“I think you prepare by focusing on things that will always help you be prepared well and not get away from them because of setbacks or challenging times,” he said. “I’m lucky. For me, through my life, my response has always been a work harder. So I kind of put my head down and drive along.
“But you also get a lot of people who do that with you. I have brilliant owners who are incredibly supportive and obviously for [Imperial’s owner] Mike [Smith] to lose that horse was an incredibly difficult thing. But he never wavered. He never made me feel anything negative. And then my internal team, my family, you lean on these people.”
For a rider who has rarely fallen outside the world top 10 in over a decade, he’s mastered performing well when things are not. According to Ward and Taylor “I can do it with a broken heart” Swift, that’s true of anyone striving for excellence.
“I mean, I’m loyal to the people around me, they’re loyal me and I think anybody you see in these seats any five star week probably has some of the same characteristics—to be resilient, to fight,” Ward concluded.
“There are podium moments but those aren’t usually the moments that make us, it’s the other ones.”
