The 10-year-old to watch in 2023
Last year’s highest rated nine-year-old shows no sign of slowing down in his ten-year-old year.
Shane Sweetnam’s James Kann Cruz finished the 2022 season as the fourth-rated nine-year-old of all time with an Elo-rating of 758. His first upper-level outings as a ten-year-old shows great promise and a rise in his Elo.
Only three horses had better nine-year-old seasons since 2010 than James Kann Cruz. Explosion W was nine years of age in 2018 and has since gone on to become the Olympic Champion in Tokyo under Great Britain’s Ben Maher, as well as carrying the title of highest-rated horse of all time on our Elo ranking.
Another name that needs no introduction is Big Star. At nine years of age, the bay stallion and Nick Skelton represented Great Britain at their home Olympics in 2012 with a team gold medal as a result. The pair came back fighting four years later to add an individual gold to their record at the Rio Olympic Games.
Just like Explosion W, Eddie Blue was nine years old in 2018. He was the youngest equine member of the US team that won gold at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon on home soil under Devin Ryan.
Based on these observations, one could say a successful nine-year-old season serves as a great predictor of future career accomplishment. A statement that James Kann Cruz is fiercely trying to prove, with success so far. His first outing at the upper-level was more than promising with a double clear in the 1.60m five-star Grand Prix in Wellington, just finishing third behind two of the USA’s leading horses, Baloutinue and Contagious. Two weeks later, the Irish-bred added another podium place to his record in a different 160 five-star Grand Prix in Wellington; finishing second only to Ladriano Z, who is five years his senior.
It's early days into the 2023 season, yet the promising Irish grey already ranks among the leading 10-year-olds of all time. Ranking 11th currently with an Elo-rating of 763, he already equals the successful 10-year-old seasons produced by Leone Jei and Caracole de la Roque in 2022 and Eddie Blue in 2019.
Could James Kann Cruz climb up into the top three of highest-rated ten-year-olds of all time currently occupied by Explosion W (2019), Big Star (2013) and HH Azur (2016)?