Highlands Cup Honor Roll: World Championship Nominees
Most five-star horse shows ask spectators to come for the jumping. Highlands asks them to stay for everything else.
The Highlands Cup was built as something closer to a luxury sporting festival than a traditional equestrian competition, combining CSI5* jumping with fine dining, shopping, vintage automobiles, and hospitality in New York's Hudson Valley. Two editions in, it is becoming something else as well: one of the strongest indicators of championship-caliber sport on the North American calendar.
Last October's Grand Prix, a CSI5* class over 1.60m, carried a $340,000 purse and drew 41 combinations to Keane Stud. Only twelve horses jumped clear inside the time in the first round. That is a clear rate under thirty percent, and it says the course did exactly what a championship trial should.
2025 Highlands Cup Grand Prix
Podium
| Horse | Rider | Nation | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corsica X | Rene Dittmer | GER | I |
| Ace of Hearts | Gregory Wathelet | BEL | II |
| James Kann Cruz | Shane Sweetnam | IRL | III |
The number that matters most arrived almost a year later. Nineteen of the 41 horses that jumped in last year's Highlands Cup Grand Prix have since been nominated for the FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen this summer. Call it the Highlands Cup Honor Roll: nearly half of the 2025 Grand Prix field in the running for a world championship.
HIGHLANDS CUP
HONOR ROLL
In The Jump-Off
The eight who cleared Round 1
Eight of the nineteen jumped clear inside the time at Amenia and went on to the jump-off. Between them: Ireland, Canada, the United States, Israel, and Australia.
| Horse | Rider | Nation | 2025 Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Kann Cruz | Shane Sweetnam | IRL | 3rd |
| Fave d'Authuit | Erynn Ballard | CAN | 4th |
| Clonterm Obolensky | Conor Swail | IRL | 5th |
| High Star Hero | McLain Ward | USA | 6th |
| La Contessa | Marilyn Little | USA | 8th |
| Corbie V.V. | Daniel Bluman | ISR | 9th |
| Kayenne Z | Kyle King | CAN | 10th |
| Hialita B | Thaisa Erwin | AUS | 12th |
Since Amenia
Four wins, same horse
Three of the exact combinations that jumped at Highlands last October have already won at the top level since. Shane Sweetnam took the Rolex Grand Prix at Falsterbo with James Kann Cruz, and finished second on the same horse at the Rolex Grand Prix in Geneva. McLain Ward won twice with High Star Hero, in Wellington and at the World Cup qualifier in Arcadia. Kyle King won the Longines World Cup leg in Thermal with Kayenne Z, the same horse that finished tenth at Highlands.
| Horse | Rider | Win |
|---|---|---|
| James Kann Cruz | Shane Sweetnam | Rolex Grand Prix, Falsterbo |
| High Star Hero | McLain Ward | CSI5* Grand Prix, Wellington |
| High Star Hero | McLain Ward | World Cup Qualifier, Arcadia |
| Kayenne Z | Kyle King | Longines World Cup, Thermal |
Different Year, Different Horse
Honor Roll riders winning on different mounts
Three more Honor Roll riders have won at the top level since October, but not with the horse that carried them in the Highlands Cup Grand Prix. Abdel Saïd, competed on Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z in Amenia, has since won twice with other mounts from the Wathnan string: the Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix in Prague with Wathnan Bonne Amie, and the Grand Prix of Cannes with Wathnan Zasou Vom Claashof. Rodrigo Pessoa, who competed on Major Tom, won the $750,000 Grand Prix in Monterrey with Prins van 't Eigenlo. Conor Swail, who rode Clonterm Obolensky last October, won the World Cup leg in Toronto with Casturano.
| Rider | Highlands Horse | Won On | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abdel Saïd | Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z | Wathnan Bonne Amie | GCT Super GP, Prague |
| Abdel Saïd | Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z | Wathnan Zasou Vom Claashof | GCT Grand Prix, Cannes |
| Rodrigo Pessoa | Major Tom | Prins van 't Eigenlo | Grand Prix GNP, Monterrey |
| Conor Swail | Clonterm Obolensky | Casturano | Longines World Cup, Toronto |
Also On The Roll
The remaining eleven
Eleven more nominees started last year's Grand Prix without reaching the jump-off. Two of their riders, Saïd and Pessoa, appear above with wins on different horses. All eleven combinations below remain part of the Honor Roll as nominated.
| Major Tom | Rodrigo Pessoa · BRA |
| Precious Dwerse Hagen | Stella Wasserman · ISR |
| Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z | Abdel Saïd · BEL |
| Nikka VD Bisschop | Nina Mallevaey · FRA |
| Ideaal ES | Chris Pratt · CAN |
| Foxy de la Roque | Karl Cook · USA |
| Clitschko 17 | Vanessa Hood · ISR |
| Kick On | Lillie Keenan · USA |
| Playboy JT Z | Charlotte Jacobs · USA |
| Dez' Ooktoff | Roberto Terán Tafur · COL |
| Jagger HX | Amy Millar · CAN |
A nomination is not a start. Federations will narrow their lists to final championship teams by July 27. Some names on the Honor Roll will not travel to Aachen. The list reflects who was under consideration as of this preview.
A single Grand Prix does not usually produce a stat like that. Riders bring their championship horses to shows where the ground, the course, and the level of competition will tell them something real. Nineteen nominations out of 41 starters means the people setting selection criteria across at least six federations looked at what happened in Amenia last October and decided it counted.
Two editions into its current format, Highlands Cup likely to draw many of the horses and riders now preparing for the sport's biggest championship. This October's Grand Prix will offer more than a winner. It may offer an early look at the names shaping international jumping through the rest of the year.
This year's Highlands Cup runs October 8 through 12 at Keane Stud, the second half of Amenia's back-to-back run with the Silo Ridge Masters. If last year is any guide, a meaningful share of Aachen's field will be back on a plane to Amenia this fall.