Team Helios Heats Up with Second Win in MLSJ Team Competition
Team Helios made it clear they are not done winning. After securing the first Major League Show Jumping (MLSJ) Team Competition at Thunderbird Show Park, the team, with an entirely different roster this time, repeated their success and claimed the gold medal in Traverse City during the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, presented by CaptiveOne Advisors.
The three competing team members for Helios, Karl Cook (USA), Mark Bluman (COL), and Simon McCarthy (IRL) had just one rail between the three of them in round one, putting them in second place behind the Spy Coast Spies, also on four but with a quicker combined time.
“We have a strong team,” Bluman stated after the team’s win. “We have a good thing going on. We’re pretty strong and we are always cheering each other on, and it just feels great. From the beginning we said that the main goal was to win the overall and we’re putting a strong team in every event that we go to.”
Cook, who was on the winning team at the Desert International Horse Park for A.I.M. United in 2021, piloted Signe Otsby’s Fecybelle to a time of 36.05 seconds, which proved to help the team significantly as they advanced into the jump-off for gold. Combined with Bluman’s time with Over The Top Stables, LLC’s Noortje vd Windheuvel of 37.63 seconds, they put themselves in pole position for gold as the fastest combined pair in the initial jump-off phase.
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Helios Heats Up with Second Win in MLSJ Team Competition – Traverse City Horse Shows
