Look back over the past decade and a clear pattern emerges: for most horses, victory in the Week 9 Grand Prix is not the final chapter, it is the first big line on the résumé.  Eight of the last ten winning horses were taking either their first‑ever CSI5* Grand Prix when they crossed the timers in Wellington, with Daniel Bluman’s Ladriano Z the lone exception as a proven five‑star champion returning to win the class twice. 

From Carrabis Z in 2016 to Portobella van de Fruitkorf in 2025, Week 9 has consistently crowned combinations who were still writing the opening pages of their top‑level story. 

When a First Win Becomes a Beginning

Luciana Lossio and Lady Louise Jmen: Defying the Odds on Debut

When Luciana Lossio rode through the in‑gate for the Week 9 Grand Prix in 2024, she and Lady Louise Jmen were not just chasing their first CSI5* win, they were jumping their very first CSI5* 160 Grand Prix together, full stop. In a sport where only around 4% of international horses ever reach that level, simply appearing in this class is rare; converting that debut into a victory is almost unheard of. 

Only 47% of horses that attempt CSI5* 160 will ever jump a clear at the height, and just 1% manage to win on their five‑star 160 debut, which gives some sense of the statistical improbability of what Lossio and Lady Louise Jmen achieved. Against that backdrop, their clear, winning performance did more than upset the form book, it perfectly captured Week 9’s reputation as the place where brand‑new five‑star partnerships announce themselves to the sport.

Emilie Conter & Portobella van de Fruitkorf: From Breakthrough to Belgian Backbone

When Emilie Conter and Portobella van de Fruitkorf won the Week 9 Grand Prix twelve months later, it was also framed as a breakthrough: a first CSI5* Grand Prix victory for a young rider–mare partnership stepping out against one of the strongest fields of the season. That result has since proved to be a starting point rather than an end point. In the twelve months that followed, Portobella has become an integral part of the Belgian set‑up, helping Team Belgium to three podium finishes in five‑star team competitions at LLN Ocala, the Nations Cup of Aachen and the Nations Cup of Sankt Gallen. 

Along the way, they underlined their big‑occasion credentials with a clear round in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, one of the most prestigious 160 tests in the sport. Back in Wellington this winter, Conter and Portobella have picked up exactly where they left off, opening 2026 with a Top 10 finish in the $500,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix during WEF 5 and reminding everyone that last year’s Week 9 win was the launch of a top‑level career, not a one‑night surprise.

From breakthrough to serial winner 

 
Week 9 has also played a different role for riders who were already established but still on the cusp of something bigger.  

Abdel Saïd & his Week 9 Double

Now riding for Belgium, Abdel Saïd is the only rider in the past decade to have won the Week 9 Grand Prix twice, and he did it by giving two different horses their first taste of five‑star glory. With Pegasus Bandit Savoie in 2021 and Arpege du Ru in 2022, Saïd rode both horses to their first‑ever CSI5* Grand Prix victories under the Wellington lights, adding to a five‑star record that already included his 2016 World Cup win in Verona with Hope van Scherpen Donder. 

Pegasus Bandit Savoie confirmed that breakthrough by winning another CSI5* Grand Prix later that same year before continuing his career under France’s Ines Joly, while Arpege du Ru went on to add further big‑tour results to Saïd’s résumé. Taken together, his Week 9 record reads less like a pair of isolated Wellington upsets and more like the calling card of a rider who repeatedly turns talented, relatively unproven horses into five‑star Grand Prix winners.

Daniel Coyle & Cita: a first win that unlocked eight more

When Daniel Coyle won the Week 9 Grand Prix in 2018 with Cita, it was the first CSI5* Grand Prix victory of his career and an early sign that he was ready to live in five‑star company. Since that night in Wellington, he has added eight more CSI5* Grand Prix or World Cup wins across North America and Europe, including major titles such as the Longines FEI World Cup legs in Toronto, Leipzig and Amsterdam with Legacy, the Grand Prix of Rotterdam and Thermal, and the $1,000,000 ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows with Incredible. 

That body of work has carried Coyle into the elite bracket of the sport; as of the latest Longines FEI Jumping Rankings, he now sits inside the world’s top 10 riders. Looking back, his Week 9 breakthrough reads like the first clear indication that a future Top 10 rider was being forged under the Wellington lights.

A Proven Winner with a New Partner

The Week 9 roll of honor is not only about first‑timers. Daniel Bluman and Ladriano Z are proof that seasoned five‑star winners can make this Grand Prix their own, having lifted the trophy twice together and setting the benchmark for repeat success under the Wellington lights. Their double adds an important counterpoint to the recent trend of emerging partnerships taking breakthrough wins here and shows that experience can be just as decisive as momentum. 

Although Ladriano Z has since retired from top‑level sport, Bluman arrives in 2026 with another serious contender in Corbie V.V., who has jumped clear in eight of his last nine five‑star Grand Prix and World Cup starts. With that kind of current form, Bluman looks well placed to chase a new chapter in his Week 9 story, this time with a different horse.

The Next Chapter in a Two‑Track Tradition

Put together, the last ten years of Week 9 tell a nuanced story. This is a Grand Prix where first‑time five‑star winners regularly launch themselves onto the big stage, yet proven championship horses can still come back and win it again. As another edition approaches, the question is not whether history will repeat itself, but which version of the Week 9 script, breakthrough or confirmation, will play out under the lights this time.

For more insights in the five-star during WEF Week 9 visit the Fan Guide here.