Last Updated on January 10, 2026 by adminahb
Nina Mallevaey & Destine to Be. Photo © Sportfot
Wellington, Fla. – January 9, 2026 — It has been a big week for French national champion Nina Mallevaey. In the first release of the FEI rider rankings for 2026, she made her debut in the world’s top 10 at no. 8 before winning the $32,000 Adequan® CSI3* WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 at Wellington International on Thursday.
Sat atop Destine to Be, owned by the Rein Family, the 26-year-old rider punched her ticket for Saturday night’s $140,000 Palm Beach Country Sports Commission CSI3* Grand Prix to kick off the 2026 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) season at Wellington International.
On Friday, U.S. rider Stella Wasserman rode Myjorka to win the $32,000 Dodd Technologies CSI3* 1.45m Speed, also a qualifier for Saturday Night’s three-star grand prix.
Of her new position within the top 10 show jumping riders in the world, Mallevaey said, “It’s an amazing achievement and I didn’t expect it. My team, my horses — I have a lot of people around me who helped me achieve this and I can’t thank The Rein Family enough. They have supported me for almost five years. There’s no better way for me to thank them than results like this.
“This now pushes me to try to stay in [the top 10], while also listening to my horses and what they need,” she continued. “The ranking is nice, but my horses are more important than the points.”
The two-round WEF Challenge cup track was set by course designer Nick Granat (USA), with 12 returning for the tie-breaking second phase. Mallevaey piloted her 10-year-old Anglo European gelding by Diamant de Semilly x Grandilot to a winning time of 33.10 seconds.
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