Sweetnam and Ballard Record Wins During Five-Star Week at World Equestrian Center – Ocala

February 13, 2026 – Ocala, FL – Five-star competition continued on Friday, February 13, 2026, at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) with Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam capturing the win in the $62,500 Winning Round CSI5*-W class on Coriaan van Klapscheut Z, owned by Sweetnam and Voquest LLC. In the $32,000 Wild Horse Refuge Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2*, Erynn Ballard (CAN) blazed to her second win of the week, this time riding Paladin 116 owned by Ilan Ferder. The $300,000 1.60m CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Ocala presented by MARS Equestrian, is the feature class of the week and will start at 7 p.m. on Saturday evening, February 14. General admission tickets are still available for sale HERE.

Out of 33 entries in the five-star class, 12 were clear, but with the Winning Round format, only the top 10 returned for the second round. The courses were designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal. The top three were the only double clears in the class, with Sweetnam and “Coriaan” leading in a time of 35.80 seconds.

“I wanted to win, but it was hard to gauge what needed to be done to win,” said Sweetnam of the jump-off course. “There was a turn to the second-to-last jump, which I wasn’t in love with. I sort of took a gamble there to go around and be fast, then do one less stride to the last jump. It worked out well. It was just a little bit of an awkward jump-off, so I wasn’t sure it would be enough. Thankfully it was.”

Sweetnam started riding Coriaan in FEI classes a year ago, but they now have 18 top-five FEI finishes, including a four-star grand prix win two weeks ago.

“He was still quite green last year, but got some really good results all year,” he said of the 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Comme Il Faut x Lord Z. “The end of last year he won a good grand prix, and then another at his last show, so now we expect a lot from him.”

Sweetnam is another top rider who has added more weeks at WEC – Ocala to his schedule in 2026. “This year I wanted to do more,” he acknowledged. “We love it here. I came with some greener horses last week. I really do feel this is like a championship ring with championship jumps. Some of the horses are nervous at the start, but they really do learn a lot in that ring. It definitely helps them step up the gears and be ready for whatever comes next.”

Following Sweetnam in the final standings were McLain Ward (USA) and Lestro vd Valckenborg, a 10-year-old KWPN gelding by Stakkato Gold x Animo owned by E.T.C. Custodian Fbo Marta Mattox, who finished the short course in 37.22 seconds. Stephanie Macieira (BRA) and Toulouse van’t Prinsenveld Z, an 11-year-old Zangersheide mare by Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve x Carabas van de Wateringhoeve owned by Haras Bonne Chance BV, were third with a time of 38.48 seconds.

Ballard Makes It a Double

After winning the opening five-star class on Wednesday, Canadian Olympian Erynn Ballard returned to the winner’s circle in the $32,000 Wild Horse Refuge Grand Prix Qualifier CSI2* with Paladin 116. A large class of 49 entries saw 18 go clear to the jump-off, and 11 of those were double clear.

It was a race to the finish, but Ballard won decisively in a time of 35.05 seconds. Shane Sweetnam and Balou H, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding by Baloutelli x F.A. N. Holland owned by Leadon Ridge LLC and Sweet Oak Farm, finished second in 36.58 seconds. Coming in third was Richard Vogel (GER) and Quizas van’t Hulsbox, a 10-year-old BWP gelding by Emerald van het Ruytershof x Apollo van het Lindenbox owned by Devos Stables. They were clear in 37.05 seconds.

“It was pretty fast,” said Ballard with a smile about her jump-off ride. “I was looking for 10 strides from jumps one to two, and it showed up in nine strides. We were talking about it in the warm-up ring, one of those sayings is that you win the jump-off in the first three jumps. You can’t catch up if you go slow in the beginning.

“I felt so fast in the beginning, jumps one-two-three-four,” she continued. “Then the seven strides got slow into the double combination. I took a chance and added a stride to the last jump because I felt like he was going so fast, and I needed to keep his concentration. I definitely won in the first three jumps, and that’s where you see the difference in the time.”

Ballard, who rides for Ilan Ferder Stables, first rode Paladin a year ago before their amateur student Djuna Lauder took over. With Lauder now in college in Scotland, Ballard and Ferder are further developing the nine-year-old Westphalian gelding by Plot Blue x Comme Il Faut until Lauder finishes her school year.

“He’s a fast and careful jumper, and he’s got everything in his favor to win a class like this,” she described. “At the 1.45m level, he’s still learning, but he’s just quite good. We want to jump 1.50m and then give him back to Djuna. She trains with us here and with the Fuchs team in Switzerland, which is our partner in Europe. We’re a big team, and we’re worldwide. Martin was texting me about the class, and it’s nice to have his support.”

Ballard and Sweetnam will return to the ring in the two international classes on Saturday preceding the evening’s feature grand prix.

WINNING ROUND CSI5* CLASS RESULTS

GRAND PRIX QUALIFIER CSI2* CLASS RESULTS

SHOW SCHEDULE AND RESULTS

Competition at WEC – Ocala this week continues on Saturday, February 14, with the $10,000 Wild Horse Refuge Speed CSI2* at 10am followed by the $62,000 Speed CSI5*-W class at 1 p.m. The $300,000 1.60m CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Ocala presented by MARS Equestrian will start at 7pm. General admission tickets are available for purchase HERE. More information on the week’s events can be found HERE.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV

Make sure to visit the WEC Blog and follow us on social media @worldequestriancenter for full coverage on all feature classes! 

This event is made possible through the support of our generous sponsors and marketing partners, the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, and Ocala/Marion County Visitors and Convention Bureau.