It’s Grand Prix Day in Calgary: Who to Watch?

A total of 35 combinations come forward to contest the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at the beautiful venue in Spruce Meadows, Calgary. These are the duos to keep an eye on this afternoon.

Who are the highest-rated horses in the competition?

Four of the 35 horses coming forward today are rated over 700 on Elo. Last weekend's CSI5* Grand Prix winners will be back today to try and make it a second consecutive victory. Kent Farrington and Landon won their second 5* Grand Prix of the season last weekend. We also see two strong Canadians in today's line-up. Mario Deslauriers' Emerson and Tiffany Foster's Figor will surely have the backing of the enthusiastic home crowd.

Which horses are showing the best recent form?

When we look at recent form at five-star 160 classes, who would come to mind other than last weekend’s five-star Grand Prix winners here at Spruce Meadows. Despite only being 10 years old, Kent Farrington’s Landon is showing the strongest form of the field at five-star 160 in 2023. Of the 12 classes he has jumped at that level, he has remained clear in 5 of them. As the clear rate of those classes indicate that the average horse would only have 2.6 of them clear, Landon is awarded a CAS value of 2.4 as he has jumped 2.4 more clears than what is considered average.

For the home nations, Kyle Timm's Candar Mail put in beautiful performance last weekend in his 5* 160 debut to produce a foot-perfect double clear and finish second. The pair will be back today to try and improve on last weekend's achievement.

 
Which horses are stepping up today?

Surprisingly, 12 of the 35 horses due to come forward in today’s ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup will be hoping to produce their first ever clear round at five-star 160. For just one of those, this will be their first ever attempt. Conor Swail’s Theo 160 (679) will be making his five-star 160 debut here today. The 11-year-old has already proven to be very competitive at 150 and 155 level, which sees him enter the competition as one of the Top 10 Elo-rated horses of the field, despite never having contested a class of this level before. 

Who is the youngest horse in the competition?

Nine-year-old Hamrah van het Exelhof Z (616) will be the youngest horse to compete in the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup today. Darragh Kenny’s youngster made his five-star 160 debut here just last weekend and with success. The stallion produced a lovely clear round in his first five-star Grand Prix and made the jump-off. An unfortunate four faults saw them settle for fifth place, which is still considered a successful introduction to this level. The pair will be back today to try and improve on last weekend’s performance and perhaps produce a double clear.

Who are the oldest horses in the competition?

At the age of 17, these two horses have a wealth of experience under their belt having travelled all over the world. Rowan Willis and Blue Movie (643) were on the Australian Team for the 2018 World Equestrian Games and have formed a unique partnership together. 
Seringat (564) too is a well-travelled horse with multiple Grand Prix victories on his record. His partnership with Patricio Pasquel however is still relatively new.