One Win From History: The Spruce Meadows and Traverse City Entries
Richard Vogel is one Grand Prix away from the Rolex Grand Slam at Spruce Meadows, and up in Traverse City, the entry list says Shane Sweetnam's James Kann Cruz is in the best form of anyone at either show.
Two shows this week carry very different kinds of weight. At Spruce Meadows, Richard Vogel arrives one Grand Prix away from something only one rider in the sport's history has managed. At Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City, the question is a bit simpler: who is jumping best right now?
A note on what follows. These are the horses and riders entered for the week at each venue, not a confirmed start list for Sunday's CPKC 'International' or Saturday's MLSJ 5* Grand Prix. Who actually starts, and who makes it through to the class that counts, is still to be decided.
The 2026 Spruce Meadows 'Masters' runs September 9 to 13 in Calgary, and Sunday's $5 million CPKC 'International', presented by Rolex, is the class that settles it. Vogel has already won two of the three Rolex Grand Slam Majors this year, the Dutch Masters and the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, both with United Touch S. A third win at Spruce Meadows completes the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping. Only one rider has ever done that. Scott Brash, in this same International Ring, in 2015.
The Grand Slam decision
Brash is not just a name in the history books this week. He is the defending CPKC 'International' champion, having won it last year with Hello Jefferson, and he returns as one of the riders standing between Vogel and a place alongside him. Hello Jefferson's current Elo sits at 722, built across 152 rounds and 12 wins over a long career, a mark of a horse that has been competitive at this level for years rather than a flash of form. If Vogel wins on Sunday, he becomes the second rider ever to hold all three Majors at once. If he does not, Scott Brash remains the sport's only Grand Slam winner for at least another year.
| Horse | Rider | Nation | Current Elo | Clear Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Dames Singclair | Sophie Hinners | GER | 781 | 56.2% |
| United Touch S | Richard Vogel | GER | 779 | 46.8% |
| Otello de Guldenboom | Daniel Deusser | GER | 778 | 34.0% |
| Impress-K van't Kattenheye Z | Thibeau Spits | BEL | 776 | 50.0% |
| Albfuehren's Iashin Sitte | Steve Guerdat | SUI | 768 | 40.9% |
| Cloudio | Richard Vogel | GER | 768 | 51.6% |
| Checker 47 | Christian Kukuk | GER | 767 | 46.3% |
| DSP Chakaria | Andre Thieme | GER | 760 | 55.2% |
Guerdat's two shots
Venard de Cerisy is the more experienced of Guerdat's pair, with 105 rounds on record and a career clear rate of 42.9%. The clears have come against tougher climbs than that number alone suggests. Venard's performance relative to the expected clear rate on the courses he has jumped is +19.4, one of the higher marks in the Spruce Meadows field this week. In other words, he has produced nearly 20 more clear rounds than would have been expected based on the difficulty of the tracks he faced.
Albfuehren's Iashin Sitte is the fresher option, with the higher current Elo of the two at 768, built from a much smaller sample of 44 rounds. Five wins and nine podiums already suggest a horse still on the way up rather than one settling into a ceiling.
Up in Michigan, Major League Show Jumping's Traverse City stop runs the same week at Flintfields Horse Park, September 9 to 13, building to Saturday's $340,000 MLSJ 5* Grand Prix. The field is smaller than Calgary's, with a top 25 average Elo of 707 against Spruce Meadows' 754, but two horses at the top of it are in serious form.
| Horse | Rider | Nation | Current Elo | Clear Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Kann Cruz | Shane Sweetnam | IRL | 789 | 55.1% |
| Greya | Kent Farrington | USA | 784 | 54.8% |
| Kalinka van't Zorgvliet | Karl Cook | USA | 756 | 47.8% |
| Gemma W | Daniel Bluman | ISR | 742 | 25.0% |
| Mr Boombastic | Natalie Dean | USA | 733 | 37.5% |
Shane Sweetnam's James Kann Cruz carries the highest current Elo of any horse entered at either show this week, 789, built across 78 rounds at a career clear rate above 55%. It is the kind of number that would make James Kann Cruz a serious contender at any major five-star venue, and it puts Sweetnam in as the rider to beat at Flintfields on paper.
Farrington's form
Kent Farrington's Greya sits just below James Kann Cruz on Elo but has the stronger win-rate numbers. Greya has 12 wins from 42 rounds, the best win rate near the top of the Traverse City field, and a clear rate of 54.8% that matches Sweetnam's almost exactly.
Farrington also has Descartes SR in the entries, a smaller sample at six rounds but a clear rate of 66.7% and a win already banked and strong form at last week's Major League stop in Toronto. Two live options in one barn is a real advantage across a five day show.
Sunday in Calgary decides whether show jumping gets a second Grand Slam winner in eleven years, and whether Scott Brash keeps that record to himself. Saturday in Michigan is a smaller stage but a sharper argument, Sweetnam's current form against Farrington's win rate. Who takes the CPKC 'International', and who wins the MLSJ Grand Prix at Flintfields?