WEF Week 9: Kenny, Eddy Blue & The Numbers Behind the Win

A Field Elite By Any Measure

Saturday's $500,000 Bainbridge Companies CSI5* Grand Prix drew 39 starters, with six of the world's top 10 in the field. From that group, only nine combinations produced clear first rounds over Alan Wade's demanding track, a conversion rate of just 23%. Wade, who has been appointed course designer for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, built a course that found faults across the full spread of the field. Nine clear rounds is the sporting context within which every jump-off time must be read.

The Winners: Darragh Kenny & Eddy Blue

Eddy Blue entered the class carrying an EquiRatings Elo of 771, the highest in the jump-off field by a margin. That figure reflects a body of form built across the sport's strongest competitions, including the pair's previous five-star 1.60m victory at the 2024 London World Cup.

Kenny went penultimate in the jump-off, a strategic position that gave him full information before committing. He left a stride out in the first line and got away with it because of the sheer carefulness of Eddy Blue. The clock stopped at 41.77 seconds. It was unbeatable.

Nine In, Three on the Podium

The jump-off pathfinder was Marilyn Little (USA) and La Contessa (Elo: 730), who set 41.92 seconds as the opening benchmark. Their first round was La Contessa's fifth consecutive clear at five-star level, a strong form line in its own right, and ended in the pair's first-ever five-star Grand Prix podium together.
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Six rounds later, Australian Thaisa Erwin matched Little's time to the hundredth of a second aboard Hialita B (Elo: 701), who she co-owns with Michael Smith. The dead heat is a statistical rarity at this level, and Erwin's result returned Australia to a five-star WEF Grand Prix podium for the first time since 2010.

Laura Kraut and Bisquetta (Elo: 759) were fourth, and Jonathan McCrea with Chaccotilino PS (Elo: 677) fifth, both double-clear. The jump-off field of nine included four horses rated above 700 on the EquiRatings Elo scale, underlining the depth of the night's competition.
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The Outlier: Greya's First Round and What It Doesn't Change

The headline result that didn't go to plan: Kent Farrington and Greya, with a 780 Elo were the highest-rated horse in the entire field, but collected four faults in Round 1, finishing 11th. Greya, whose Elo is closing in on the all-time US record set by HH Azur, did not reach the jump-off.
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One result does not erase a record. Farrington and Greya's five-star 1.60m jump-off statistics remain extraordinary: nine wins and 11 podium finishes from 15 jump-off appearances, a 73% podium conversion rate that stands among the best in the modern era. A single first-round error changes nothing about the expectation they carry into the $1,000,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open on March 28.

Week 9 in the Season Sequence

Three of WEF's four five-star 1.60m Grand Prix weekends are now complete. Three different winners: Richard Vogel (Week 5), McLain Ward (Week 7), Darragh Kenny (Week 9). The variety of victors is itself telling — no single combination has dominated the circuit, and the $1,000,000 finale remains entirely open.

EquiRatings analysis has consistently shown that WEF Grand Prix winners frequently translate early-season form into landmark seasons. Saturday's win was Kenny and Eddy Blue's second major five-star Grand Prix together. The trajectory is one of a combination accelerating, not plateauing.
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The field for March 28 is taking shape, and the numbers suggest it will be the deepest and most contested Grand Prix on the 2026 WEF calendar.