A Record Field. A Home Win. A US Champion.
The question going into Saturday night was whether the strongest Grand Prix field ever assembled at Wellington International would produce a night to match. It did.
Kent Farrington and Greya stopped the timers in 42.99 seconds before a sold-out crowd of more than 10,000 fans to take the $1,000,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix CSI5*, the highest-rated Grand Prix in Wellington International history. It was a home win in every sense -- the first American to take the Rolex Finale Grand Prix in seven years, delivered in front of a crowd that knew exactly what they were watching.
Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien finished second. Richard Vogel and Gangster Montdesir rounded out the top three. Vogel, the reigning European Champion, stopped the clock in 42.87 seconds but had a rail at the last fence. After months of build up, two days of qualifying and two hours of jumping, for the champion to be decided with the final fence felt fitting.
The Course and the Jump-Off
Course designer Guilherme Jorge set an 18-effort track that demanded accuracy, scope, and tremendous athleticism from the 40 qualified combinations. The average clear rate at Wellington in this final week is just 18% over the last 10 runnings. We expected beforehand that we might see 7 make the jump off. When the defending champion of the Open Christian Kukuk crashed through the wall early in the course, and early on the night, we knew a major chance for a US win was on.
Five combinations produced clear rounds to make it to the jump-off, a number Farrington called exactly right. "If you under build the course even a little bit, you could easily see 20 clears," he said. "It's very possible to jump clear, and I think that is what this level of competition should be about."
The first to jump of the five was Ben Maher with Enjeu de Grisien. They were clear and fast and the time was set. This horse has now jumped in 6 CSI5* 160 jump-offs, jumped clear in all six and been on the podium every time. They have only won one, in London back in December 2023.
Going third in the jump-off order, Farrington and Greya took on the eight-fence track with precision. The fastest clear of the first round had already signaled where this evening was headed but the tension was incredible. Their clear round was met with huge hometown excitement but nobody was brave enough to call the win at this stage.
German riders had won four of the last five runnings of this competition, including Richard Vogel himself with Cepano Baloubet in 2023. He has found a new superstar in Gangster Montdesir. This horse was already a five star winner at Wellington this season (Week 5) and the rider is the most in-form rider in the sport. They arrived at the last fence faster than Greya but added a stride and had it down. While US fans will celebrate the win here, there is no doubt now that Vogel will be a major threat to Kent Farrington and Scott Brash in both the world rankings and in this summer’s World Championships.
Greya the Great
Farrington and Greya were competing in their 16th CSI5* 1.60m jump-off together, with a 60% win rate from those jump-offs. Saturday's victory marked Greya's 10th CSI5* Grand Prix win. Farrington has described her as a once-in-a-career horse, and he didn't shy away from it after the win. "You do this for a long time, and you have some good horses, maybe some great horses, and then you have horses that are an outlier athlete like I believe Greya is. She can do everything. She's fast, she's careful, she's scopey, and she's rideable.
Three words, though? "My favorite horse."
The Field. The Record.
We told you last week this was shaping up to be something historic. The field was confirmed as the best Grand Prix field ever assembled at Wellington International and one of the top 20 rated fields globally over the last 15 years.
What the Open Is Becoming
Farrington was asked about the US Equestrian Open series and what it can build toward. His answer cut to the core of what the series is trying to do. "People start to understand. They start to follow, they start to know who the riders are, and they know who the horses are. I think that's really what our sport becomes about. It starts with a community here knowing what to cheer for."
Wellington International President Michael Stone called the evening mind-blowing. "The fact that the crowd silenced when the riders and horses were on course -- you could hear a pin drop -- and then as they came down to the last fence, everyone was cheering."
The Mission of the Open
The US Equestrian Open was born from a strategic Board of Directors decision in 2023 to build a permanent legacy for US Equestrian sport. Its mission is to grow and foster a deeper connection to equestrianism by delivering a premier, unified championship series in the Olympic disciplines. With top-level competition, storytelling, and a dynamic, entertaining experience, the vision is to transform disparate events into a cohesive, narrative-driven season. The series is anchored by core values which include fan-first accessibility, competitive integrity, storytelling, and a dynamic entertaining experience onsite .
The US Equestrian Open spans the three Olympic disciplines—Jumping, Eventing, and Dressage—with USEF contributing $200,000 in prize money to each final to ensure high-stakes competitive integrity. The Jumping Final took place at Wellington International from March 24–29, 2026. Next stop will be the Eventing Final at Morven Park from October 8–11, 2026. The season concludes with the Dressage Final at the Desert International Horse Park from November 11–15, 2026. You can follow along with the qualifiers, the unfolding stories and sport updates at www.
