These horses won their 160 debut & now are rated among the best in the world
The underdog win of the LGCT Grand Prix of Doha by nine-year-old Just Be Gentle two weeks ago prompted the question of how often horses take victory in their 160 debuts at 4* or 5* level at a young age.
Since 2010, a total of 38 horses aged either eight or nine recorded wins in their 160 debuts at four or five-star level with 20 of those going on to achieve an Elo rating of at least 680 in their further career. While the majority were nine years old when taking on the huge milestone of jumping and winning a 160 track, eight of those winning debuts were produced by eight-year-old horses.
An impressive list of horses that features four of the current top ten highest-rated horses. Explosion W made his 160 debut back in April 2018 under the saddle of Ben Maher at the age of nine with a win at the LGCT of Shanghai. A win that has had a domino effect on this horse’s career. The next day, this combination took the win in the LGCT Grand Prix of Shanghai, followed by a win in the LGCT Grand Prix in Madrid two weeks later. That same year, the chestnut gelding collected victories in the LGCT Grand Prix in Rome and Doha. A list of performances that were rewarded with an Elo of 772. To this day, no other horse has managed to score a higher Elo in their nine-year-old year. The following year, at the age of 10, Explosion W scored a new record. After yet another LGCT Grand Prix win, this time in New York, he achieved an Elo of 804, which to this day is the highest Elo-rating ever accomplished.
Daniel Deusser and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z is a combination we know as one of the main pairs to beat in any top-level Grand Prix. A fact they have proven since their first attempt. The chestnut stallion made his 160 debut back in October 2017 at the age of nine, in the CSI5*-W Grand Prix of Oslo and immediately jumped into the spotlight by taking the win. Right now, Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z is the highest-rated horse on our Elo-rating as the only horse scoring over 800.
Way back in 2015, McLain Ward rode a little, bay, nine-year-old mare to victory in her first 160 five-star Grand Prix in Calgary. Eight years later and we still HH Azur winning Grand Prix at the highest level. At 17 years old, HH Azur is still the sixth highest-rated horse on our Elo-rating and is fresh off an outstanding win in the Rolex Major Grand Prix of ‘s Hertogenbosch. As this is her second consecutive win in the Rolex Grand Slam series, McLain will receive a €500,000 bonus with the chance of doubling that amount at a third win.
More recently, in 2021, Simon Delestre introduced nine-year-old Cayman Jolly Jumper to the 160 level of showjumping in the Grand Prix of La Coruna. At just their second show as a pair, this combination took the win by producing the only double clear in the field. Today, Cayman Jolly Jumper is the highest-rated 11-year-old in the sport with his eyes set on competing at his home Olympics in Paris next year.
Other names on the list include Solid Gold Z, Orient Express HDC, Mumbai, Kiana van het Herdershof among others that are or have been considered household names in the sport. One could therefore argue that an eight or a nine-year-old winning its 160 debut is a great predictor of future career success. An observation that bodes well for the future of Empoli de Champloue, newly named Tipperary, who made a winning 160 debut last year in the Grand Prix of Riyadh at the age of eight.