Gochman Punches Ticket to Fort Worth with World Cup Glory in Ocala

Mimi Gochman (USA) and Iron Maiden, winners of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ North American League  2025/26 - Ocala (USA) ©FEI/Shannon Brinkman

Mimi Gochman (USA) exceeded even her own expectations Saturday night in Ocala (USA), topping the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Ocala while punching her ticket to the Finals in Fort Worth (USA). 

The win marked the first at the highest level of show jumping sport for Gochman, 22, who has secured a place in her first senior championship in April. She and her 11-year-old gelding Iron Maiden produced the only double-clear effort of the class, crossing the timers of Bernardo Costa Cabral's (POR) short course in 41.79 seconds. Eduardo Pereira de Menezes (BRA) finished second with H5 Ozzy vd Bisschop, incurring a single rail on course (4/42.65s), while defending champion Cian O'Connor (IRL) was third with Kentucky TN (4/43.36s).

"I sat down in the beginning of last year in January and said that I really wanted to go to World Cup Finals this year. I have two fantastic horses that are ready to go, and I want to test myself in a championship format. I think it's important." 

Mimi Gochman(USA) 

After Gochman finished third in Toronto (CAN) with Inclen BH, she did herself better in the final leg of the 2025/26 North American League season with Iron Maiden, with whom she has been partnered for less than a year. Her goal with the talented but sometimes-anxious gelding was to build consistency, and Ocala marked the first time he competed as the top horse in her string.

"I always felt like he had the capability and scope. He's super brave, and he can jump mountains," Gochman said. "For the last couple months, we've just worked on being consistent...This week, we decided to try to step him up even a little bit more, and he answered all of the questions, and he's really impressed us."

Costa Cabral set a stiff test for the final leg of the season, his first round course featuring a tight time allowed and long, related lines that required riders to make individual decisions for their horses based on stride and adjustability. Rails fell throughout the course, especially in the combinations. Gochman was the only clear effort in the first half of the 38-strong field, making her the leadoff rider in a jump-off that included Menezes, O'Connor and Hilary Scott (AUS) with her 19-year-old homebred partner, Oaks Milky Way. 

"There were so many different questions where he could have doubted, and he didn't doubt," Gochman said of her partner. "I just let the horse jump. One of his biggest qualities is that he's got a big heart and is so brave. I just needed to trust him and let him do his job."

Gochman put the pressure on again with her second clear effort of the night, and this time, no one could replicate it. Menezes, Scott and O'Connor all incurred rails in their chase of the American rider. Several technical tests remained in Costa Cabral's short track, including a tall vertical and wall of planks that did not feature in the first round.

"[Iron Maiden] is a horse that is not the most experienced going quick in jump-offs, especially with me. The partnership isn't as developed as maybe it is with [my] other horses," Gochman shared. "He can sometimes get a bit stressed out in jump-offs, almost anxious. I just wanted to keep it really smooth with him...He really stepped up and gave me so many nice jumps, and he really tried so hard. Double-clear was really the goal there."

Gochman entered the event as the seventh-ranked east coast U.S. athlete on the North American League, putting her on the bubble of Finals qualification. Her victory more than sealed her ticket to Fort Worth, moving her up to third in the standings.

"I knew that I was needing to get some points to really push myself into that last qualification, but I was trying not to think about that too much," Gochman said. "I was already a little nervous with this being this horse's kind of first time jumping this level...I was just focusing on giving the horse the best experience that I could and not really thinking about all the external factors, and that kind of worked out for me."

Conor Swail (IRL) ends the North American League season atop the standings with 51 points. Kent Farrington (USA) sits second with 42 points, followed by Gochman on 37 points. The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Finals take place in Fort Worth (USA), 8-12 April 2026.

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