Who Leaves the Poles Up? The Horses on Form for Aachen 2026

The clear rate asks one question of every round. Did the fences stay up.

At CSI5* 1.60m the field-wide answer is no. Around 28% of rounds at that level finish clear. Three in ten. Ten combinations on the Aachen entry list have cleared 54% or better over the twelve months to 18 August, and the top five have cleared two thirds of their rounds. Minimum six rounds to make the list.

The best number, the smallest sample

Ben Maher and Point Break lead on 83%, five clears from six rounds. That is six rounds. One rail takes it to 67%.

Where those rounds happened is the argument for taking it seriously. The thirteen-year-old has started five times at CSI5* 1.60m in 2026: second in the Rolex Grand Prix at Windsor, a win in the Grand Prix of Rotterdam at the Longines League of Nations in June, fifth in the Rolex Grand Prix of Falsterbo in July. Clear first round in all three. The only jumping fault of the year came in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of London on 9 August. An Elo of 788 makes him the third-highest rated horse in the world.

Belgium has the two you would bet on

Thibeau Spits and Impress-K van't Kattenheye Z sit second on 77%, and that number does the most work of any on the board. Thirteen rounds, ten clears. More of both than anyone else on this list.

Pieter Devos and Casual DV Z are third on 75% from twelve rounds. The eleven-year-old has spent 2026 finishing just short at the biggest tables: third in the Longines Grand Prix of Basel, third then second in Doha, third in the Rolex Grand Prix of The Dutch Masters. Four CSI5* 1.60m podiums. No win. Yet.

Hinners has already gone clear in this ring

Sophie Hinners and Iron Dames Singclair also hold 75%, six clears from eight. In May, in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, they jumped triple clear in an afternoon to finish third. Five of the ten combinations on this list contested that class. Hinners came out of it best.

Andreas Schou and Napoli vh Nederassenthof complete the top five on 67% from six rounds. The record only starts in June. Fourth in the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes, fourth in the Rolex Grand Prix at Falsterbo, and sixteen points of Elo added since the first start of the year.

Where the number stops telling the truth

Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz hold 58% and an Elo of 789, the highest of anyone on the entry list here and the second-highest rated horse in the world. Read the faults and the gap closes. Two of the non-clear rounds in 2026 were single time faults. The rest of the year reads: winners of the Rolex Grand Prix in Falsterbo, seventh in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen, third at Wellington, third at Lexington, double clear in the Longines League of Nations in Ocala. Twenty-one points of Elo gained across the season.

Martin Fuchs and Conner Jei sit on 56%, with a successful 2026 of one win and three seconds at CSI5* 1.60m. The Grand Prix Audi at Bordeaux, the Grand Prix Hermes in Paris, the Grand Prix at Fontainebleau, the Rolex Grand Prix Ville de La Baule. When the fifteen-year-old is clear, he is on the podium.

Daniel Deusser and Otello de Guldenboom anchor the list on 54% from thirteen rounds, the joint-largest sample here. They were runner-up at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Fort Worth in April and second at Bordeaux in February. Elo has climbed 44 points across 2026, the biggest rise of anyone in this group. A 54% clear rate off thirteen rounds is a harder claim than a 54% off six.

Nina Mallevaey and Dynastie de Beaufour are sixth on 58% from twelve rounds, with three top-seven Grand Prix finishes in Florida over the winter and a Nations Cup win with France at La Baule in June. Abdullah Alsharbatly and Diriyah hold 57%, built around a triple clear to win the Doha Grand Prix in February.

The full ten

Clear rate is clears divided by rounds at CSI5* 1.60m in 2026 so far to 18 August 2026, minimum six rounds to qualify. Elo shown is top-level Elo. Individual results cited are from the 2026 season at CSI5* 1.60m.