Mclain Ward and High Star Hero Make It Count in Modon Grand Prix
World No. 10 Mclain Ward led wire to wire to win the $500,000 Modon CSI5* Grand Prix aboard 13-year-old Belgian-bred gelding High Star Hero, owned by Michael Smith, under the shine of Saturday Night Lights at Wellington International during Week 7 at the 2026 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). WEF hosts 12 weeks of FEI competition—four of which are five-stars—running through March 29, in Wellington, FL.
First to crack the code on Anthony d’Ambrosio’s (USA) 1.60m track, the six-time U.S. Olympian set a tough standard with High Star Hero. Only four would follow to finalize a five-horse jump-off, in which all combinations represented different nations. The pathfinders once again over the tire-breaking jump-off course, Ward and High Star Hero stopped the clock—with blistering speed—at 39.14 seconds.
Mark Bluman (COL) did his best to nip Ward’s time but came up short by half a second riding Landon de Nyze, the 13-year-old son of Comilfo Plus Z x Quadrillo. They finished as runner-up in 39.71 seconds for owners Over The Top Stables and Mark’s cousin, Daniel Bluman. Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam rounded out the podium atop 13-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising) owned in partnership between Sweetnam and Gizmo Partners. With less than a second separating the top three, Sweetnam’s time notched in at 39.91 seconds.
“You always feel pressure, and all these guys are super-fast riders with very fast horses—I knew they were going to risk everything to win,” said Ward, a U.S. Olympic team gold medalist, whose groom, Edvin Soto, was honored with the Double H Farm Grooms Award and $500 cash prize for his care and preparation of High Star Hero. “I had to do what I thought was the winning plan, and the horse responded beautifully. He’s been jumping great for the last six months, and I couldn’t ask for more. Tonight, it was inches—it was phenomenal competition, and once in a while you end up on the top end.”
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Mclain Ward and High Star Hero Make It Count in Modon Grand Prix – Wellington International
