Hickstead's Nations Cup and The Al Shira'aa King George V Gold Cup: Another Aachen Warm-Up
Three weeks before the World Championships in Aachen, Great Britain chases back the Agria Nations Cup trophy from Germany on Friday and a fourth The Al Shira'aa King George V Gold Cup in five years on Sunday.
Hickstead's grass arena hosts two of the biggest dates on the British jumping calendar this week, with the Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain on Friday and the Al Shira'aa King George V Gold Cup on Sunday. Eight nations line up for the Nations Cup, including a Canadian side back at Hickstead for the first time in 44 years. The King George field is stacked with combinations already on Aachen radars.
The FEI World Jumping Championships are three weeks away, and both of Hickstead's features carry weight because of it. Great Britain is trying to win back a trophy it lost to Germany last summer. Robert Whitaker has Equine America Vermento entered for the week. The horse has won three of its four career starts at Hickstead: two individual King George titles and a Nations Cup team win in 2024. If it takes its place in Sunday's Grand Prix, a third King George would be a record no other horse in the class has matched.
Friday: The Agria Nations Cup of Great Britain
Germany's clear rate sets it apart from the rest of the Nations Cup field. Since 2011, German teams have gone clear on 73.1% of their rounds at Hickstead, a mark well clear of the next best. Great Britain's record leans on titles rather than clear rounds: three wins from 14 starts, but only a 46.4% clear rate.
| Nation | Starts | Wins | Podiums | Clear % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | 13 | 4 | 8 | 73.1% |
| Great Britain | 14 | 3 | 5 | 46.4% |
| Ireland | 13 | 2 | 6 | 53.8% |
| Brazil | 7 | 1 | 3 | 57.1% |
| Belgium | 9 | 1 | 3 | 61.1% |
| France | 11 | 1 | 5 | 50.0% |
Five riders are entered for Great Britain this week: Ben Maher, Harry Charles, Jessica Mendoza, Adrian Whiteway and Tim Gredley. Nations Cup teams jump four riders per round, so one of the five will sit out, and the final line-up for Friday hadn't been confirmed at the time of writing. The table below is built from the horse and rider combinations entered for the show, not a confirmed start list.
| Rider | Horse entered | Current Elo | Aachen nomination |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Maher | Ginger-Blue, Enjeu de Grisien or Catelly | 765 / 760 / 680 | 2 of 3 nominated |
| Adrian Whiteway | Chacco Volo | 731 | Same horse nominated |
| Tim Gredley | Medoc de Toxandria | 632 | Same horse nominated |
| Jessica Mendoza | In The Air or Summerhouse | 648 / 623 | Nominated on Summerhouse |
| Harry Charles | Casquo Blue | 711 | Nominated on a different horse |
Maher has three horses entered this week: Ginger-Blue, Enjeu de Grisien and Catelly. Two of the three, Enjeu de Grisien and Catelly, are on his Aachen list alongside Point Break. Whiteway's Chacco Volo and Gredley's Medoc de Toxandria are also on the 15-strong list of nominated combinations British Equestrian submitted for the World Championships. Harry Charles is entered on Casquo Blue this week, but his Aachen nomination is with LT Holst Freda.
Gredley and Medoc de Toxandria have never left this arena without a ribbon on the occasions they've started together at the 1.60m level. Two Nations Cup starts at Hickstead have brought two team wins and a third place in the Grand Prix in 2024, a perfect record. Chacco Volo brings form of his own into the week: Whiteway and the 13-year-old stallion have gone eight consecutive 1.60m Nations Cup rounds without a fence down.
Canada is the newest name at the table on Friday, returning to Hickstead for the first time since 1982. Kyle King, Amy Millar and Chris Pratt are treating the week as a direct Aachen prep run, and are joined in the wider entry list by Kyle Timm and Nicole Walker. Chris Pratt's Ideaal ES carries a current Elo of 711.
Sunday: The Al Shira'aa King George V Gold Cup
The King George V Cup has belonged to one family for three straight years. Robert Whitaker won it in 2023 with Equine America Vermento. Donald took it in 2024 on Millfield Colette, and Robert reclaimed it with Vermento again in 2025. The Grand Prix start list isn't yet finalised, but Vermento is among the horses entered for the show this week.
| Year | Rider | Horse | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | David Will | Never Walk Alone | GER |
| 2022 | Gilles Thomas | Aretino 13 | BEL |
| 2023 | Robert Whitaker | Equine America Vermento | GBR |
| 2024 | Donald Whitaker | Millfield Colette | GBR |
| 2025 | Robert Whitaker | Equine America Vermento | GBR |
Britain has started more combinations in this class than any other nation by a wide margin, 212 individual starts since 2010 against Germany's 55 and Ireland's 51. The win rate tells a different story. Five home wins from 212 starts is 2.4%, while the USA has won three times from just 41 starts, a rate three times higher.
The highest-rated horses on this week's entry list mostly carry an Aachen story of their own.
| Horse entered | Rider | Nation | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ginger-Blue | Ben Maher | GBR | 765 |
| Enjeu de Grisien | Ben Maher | GBR | 760 |
| Chacco Volo | Adrian Whiteway | GBR | 731 |
| Enjoy de la Mure | Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi | UAE | 723 |
| Wathnan Zasou vom Claashof | Abdel Saïd | BEL | 719 |
| Casquo Blue | Harry Charles | GBR | 711 |
| Descartes Sr | Kent Farrington | USA | 689 |
Ginger-Blue is another Maher entry worth a mention on Sunday: her Elo now leads the whole field, ahead of Enjeu de Grisien, though she carries a single career win to Enjeu de Grisien's six podium finishes. Kent Farrington, the world's top-ranked rider, is entered at Hickstead as an individual. The USA isn't among the eight nations in Friday's competition. His entry is Descartes Sr, a nine-year-old who won the $340,000 Kentucky CSI5* Grand Prix in April, and Farrington already has a King George V Cup to his name from 2011.
The road to Aachen
Wathnan Zasou vom Claashof and Enjoy de la Mure aren't entered for Friday's Nations Cup. They're under Belgium and the UAE's entries this week, and both sit inside the top four on Elo. Al Marzooqi finished second in this same Grand Prix twelve months ago.
The Grand Prix field is doing exactly what Hickstead's organizers wanted this year: giving several federations one more look at their horses on grass before Aachen. It also gives Great Britain a genuine shot at taking the Nations Cup trophy back from Germany in front of a home crowd, whichever four riders end up in the ring on Friday.
None of this week's start lists have been confirmed, so treat the pairings here as the horses and riders entered rather than a finished team sheet. The Elo says Ginger-Blue has the profile for Sunday. The Hickstead record says Vermento, again, if they start. The form says Chacco Volo for Friday. Who do you have on the podium this weekend?