Oslo, Rome, Amenia and Coapexpan: how the weekend unfolded
From a World Cup opener in Oslo to a home win in Mexico, here is how the weekend’s four Grands Prix were won.
Going into the weekend, four horses topped the ratings in their fields: King Edward in Oslo, Beauville Z N.O.P. in Rome, James Kann Cruz in Amenia and Casturano in Coapexpan. This weekend, the wins went elsewhere.
Max Kühner and Mark Bluman won with horses who clear far more often than the field. Abdel Saïd and Jose Antonio Chedraui won with horses who had one five-star 1.60m clear each before the weekend.
Oslo: Kühner opens the World Cup season
Nine pairs went clear in the first round, and six of them stayed clear against the clock. Kühner was fastest by almost a second.
| # | Horse / Rider | Jump-off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | EIC Up Too Jacco Blue Max Kühner (AUT) |
0 | 40.52 |
| 2 | Monaco Harrie Smolders (NED) |
0 | 41.51 |
| 3 | Fortjump du Beaumenil Martin Fuchs (SUI) |
0 | 41.53 |
| 4 | Cellagon Cascais Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (GER) |
0 | 42.42 |
| 5 | King Edward Henrik von Eckermann (SWE) |
0 | 43.00 |
| 5 | Oscar the Homage Mathieu Bourdeaud’Hui (BEL) |
0 | 43.00 |
| 7 | Springfield 21 Amanda Landeblad (SWE) |
4 | 42.15 |
| 8 | Eleven Eoin McMahon (IRL) |
4 | 42.26 |
| 9 | Giulio du Ter Marc Dilasser (FRA) |
4 | 43.09 |
Jacco Blue does it again
Max Kühner & EIC Up Too Jacco Blue came to Oslo fifth on the Elo list. The 15-year-old has now won three times at the five-star level, and it was his eighth podium.
The pair had gone clear in 10 of 31 rounds together, on courses where about one horse in five goes clear. Jacco Blue’s best Elo is 762.
King Edward stays clear
Henrik von Eckermann & King Edward started the weekend as the highest-rated horse anywhere, on 793. They went double clear, but their 43.00 left them joint fifth with Mathieu Bourdeaud’Hui and Oscar the Homage.
Harrie Smolders and Monaco, second on the Oslo list at 771, finished second. Martin Fuchs was two hundredths further back in third on Fortjump du Beaumenil. Gregory Wathelet and Bond Jamesbond de Hay, who came in with the best clear rate in the field at 63%, had four faults in the first round and finished 19th.
Rome: Saïd leads a Belgian one-two
Seven pairs made the jump-off and three went clear again. Simon Delestre was fastest of all, but had a fence down.
| # | Horse / Rider | Jump-off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z Abdel Saïd (BEL) |
0 | 35.27 |
| 2 | Casual DV Z Pieter Devos (BEL) |
0 | 35.88 |
| 3 | Chageorge Lara Tryba (FRA) |
0 | 36.19 |
| 4 | Gatsby du Tillard Simon Delestre (FRA) |
4 | 34.42 |
| 5 | Ping Pong van de Lentamel Denis Lynch (IRL) |
4 | 36.41 |
| 6 | Aequitus vh Bergerhof Z Jane Richard (SUI) |
4 | 39.53 |
| 7 | ESI Rocky Anastasia Nielsen (MON) |
8 | 38.74 |
Two clears when it counted
Abdel Saïd & Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z came to Rome on 751, fourth on the list and the highest Elo the horse has reached. Clear rounds had been harder to come by, with one from 12 at this level.
In Rome they jumped two clears in one afternoon and won by 0.61 seconds from Pieter Devos and Casual DV Z. It was the horse’s first win at the five-star level. Lara Tryba and Chageorge were the third double clear.
How the top-rated horses fared
Maikel van der Vleuten & Beauville Z N.O.P. led the Rome ratings on 767. Two fences came down in the first round, and they finished 23rd. Peder Fredricson and Alcapone des Carmille, second on 764, had one fence down and finished tenth. Anastasia Nielsen and ESI Rocky, third on 753, made the jump-off but had eight faults there and finished seventh.
Amenia: Bluman takes the 50th
Twelve of the 36 starters went clear in the first round of the 50th Major League Show Jumping Grand Prix. Bluman set 36.32 in the jump-off. Four riders went faster, and all four had fences down. Five pairs finished on zero.
| # | Horse / Rider | Jump-off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Landon de Nyze Mark Bluman (ISR) |
0 | 36.32 |
| 2 | Ascadina PP Z Jessica Mendoza (GBR) |
0 | TIME |
| 3 | Acota M Natalie Dean (USA) |
0 | TIME |
Greenwich put right
Two weeks ago in Greenwich, Mark Bluman & Landon de Nyze went clear in the first round and retired in the jump-off. In Amenia, everything came together. They came in fourth on the list, clear in half their rounds together at this level on courses where fewer than one in five go clear. It was their second five-star win together.
Mendoza follows Barcelona with second
A week after winning the Grand Prix of Barcelona with In The Air, Jessica Mendoza was second on the 10-year-old Ascadina PP Z. Natalie Dean and Acota M were third. Shane Sweetnam’s James Kann Cruz and Kent Farrington’s Descartes SR, finished just off the podium.
Coapexpan: a home win for Chedraui
Four pairs made the jump-off and two stayed clear. Chedraui won by 2.05 seconds, the biggest margin of the weekend.
| # | Horse / Rider | Jump-off |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Con-Cor Jose Antonio Chedraui (MEX) |
0 | 48.20 |
| 2 | Verdini D’Houtveld Z Lauren Balcomb (AUS) |
0 | 50.25 |
| 3 | Que Pasa JW-LVM Cecilie Hatteland (NOR) |
4 | 53.09 |
| 4 | Brin d’Or de Haute Melen Z Sharn Wordley (NZL) |
8 | 51.70 |
From outside the top five
Jose Antonio Chedraui & Con-Cor started the week outside the top of the Coapexpan ratings. Their 609 was some way behind Conor Swail’s three horses, and the pair had one clear from 11 rounds at this level.
Con-Cor went clear twice and finished more than two seconds ahead of Lauren Balcomb and Verdini D’Houtveld Z for a first five-star win.
The rest of the field
Conor Swail brought the three highest-rated horses in Coapexpan, but ultimately finished on eight faults with Clonterm Obolensky in the Grand Prix. Sharn Wordley and Brin d’Or de Haute Melen Z, winners of the Puebla World Cup the week before, had eight faults in the jump-off and finished fourth.
| Winner | Elo | Clear % | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oslo EIC Up Too Jacco Blue |
746 | 32% | 0.99s |
| Rome Wathnan Quaker Brimbelles Z |
751 | 8% | 0.61s |
| Amenia Landon de Nyze |
746 | 50% | MARGIN |
| Coapexpan Con-Cor |
609 | 9% | 2.05s |
Two winners came in clearing well above the course average. The other two had one clear each at this level.
Four Grands Prix and four fresh stories, none of them written by the top-rated horse. Rating or form, who are you backing next weekend?