150 Years of the Dublin Horse Show: The Superstars, the Stats & the Stakes
The biggest week in Irish show jumping is here. The defending champs are back, the home team is stacked, and some of the world's most in-form combinations are ready to make history.
A Home Crowd, a Historic Stage
There is nothing in show jumping quite like the Dublin Horse Show. The 150th edition will be packed, not just with fans but with expectation. The Aga Khan Nations Cup on Friday and the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday remain the centrepieces of a week that brings the sport’s elite to the RDS, and in 2025, the standard is as high as it has ever been.
The Swiss were the first ever winners of the Nations Cup in Dublin (in 1926). Great Britain holds the record with 27 titles. But the pressure now is on the Irish who were runners-up in the last two years. Could this finally be the year to take it back?
A Star-Studded Line-up
Darragh Kenny’s Eddy Blue is the top-rated Irish horse in the world and enters the 2025 Dublin Horse Show as the joint top-rated pair in the field. With nine clears from 12 rounds at five-star 160 level this season, they’ve been remarkably consistent and finished in the Top 10 in last month’s Jumping European Championships. A podium on Sunday would finally bring his campaign into full focus.
The USA dominated the 2024 Aga Khan Nations Cup. McLain Ward delivered a key double clear to bring home the trophy and returns this year with a great string of horses. Imperial HBF is relatively new in his stables, but the pair have already raked up a great record of results together including a podium finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule and helping Team USA to two Nations Cup victories.
The Form Horses: Who’s Coming In Hot?
Seamus Hughes Kennedy and ESI Rocky return to Dublin as contenders, not debutants. Two years ago, they jumped their first five-star here. Now they are among the top-rated pairs at the show with one of the highest clear rates (70%) at five-star 160 this year, and a fifth-place finish at the 2023 Europeans on their record. Still only 23, Seamus could deliver a career-defining performance on home soil.
Jordan Coyle’s Chaccolino comes into Dublin with one of the strongest 5* Grand Prix records in recent weeks: three consecutive podiums, including third place at Hickstead and two top-three finishes in Spruce Meadows. Seven clears from 10 rounds at five-star 160 this year, and still going under the radar. His other ride, For Gold, has won five 150 classes at Spruce in the last six weeks alone. Both horses are entered.
The Defending Champions: USA Mean Business
The USA team were strong in 2024. They look even stronger in 2025. Laura Kraut, McLain Ward, Aaron Vale and Lucy Davis are joined by rising star Alex Matz. All five have delivered top-level performances this season, and three were part of last year’s winning team in Dublin.
Laura Kraut’s Bisquetta has shown great consistency this year with a narrow second place finish in the US Equestrian Open Grand Prix of Wellington and was a part of the winning Nations Cup teams in Rome and Aachen. McLain Ward, with Imperial HBF, has five clears from eight starts at 160 in 2025, including Nations Cup wins in Rome and Aachen. Together they’ve formed a rapid-fire partnership that looks ready to deliver again.
Aaron Vale’s Carissimo 25 was part of that same Nations Cup-winning team in Dublin last year and now adds a Grand Prix win in Dinard to his growing list of achievements. Add Lucy Davis, 2016 Olympic Team Silver medalist, and Alex Matz, who had a breakthrough show in Toronto late last year, and this is a team with real momentum.
Three Nations Cup wins already in 2025. A title to defend. The US arrive in Dublin with purpose.
For a full in-depth preview on the 2025 Dublin Horse Show, listen to the Dublin Diaries on the EquiRatings Jumping Podcast.