In its second year as a franchise owned by Bluman Equestrian, Maccabi United’s Toronto gold marks their second Team Competition victory to date. Anchored in the gold medal round by Mark Bluman (COL) aboard Concare PS (Conthargos x Cornet Obolensky), Thaisa Erwin (AUS) riding Hialita B (Emerald x Vaillant) and Daniel Bluman (ISR) on Hummer Z (Harley x Hemmingway) joined him at the peak of the podium.

“We're amongst family and very good friends,” Daniel Bluman said of his 2025 roster lineup. “It makes for a very entertaining and fun class for all of us. I think Thaisa has performed incredibly in the last two events. Today, she carried us when we really needed it. We're very excited about the team we have.”

Clear rounds within a tight time allowed were difficult to come by in the opening round. Erwin posted one of only six fault-free trips around the Olaf Peterson, Jr. designed track. “Hialita is a wonderful mare and I'm grateful to have her; she wants to win as much as I do,” Erwin, who pulled off a double-clear for the team, said. “We have amazing horses and good camaraderie. The boys are awesome to work with; very motivational, always out to win. We're lucky to be sitting on a lot of horsepower and horses that have enough blood that they can do this and also do a Grand Prix the following day. I think between all of us, we have a lot of experience and we're all good horse people; we try and do the right thing by the horses and set them up for success.”