Text © World of Showjumping

Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson won Sunday’s CSIO5* 1.60m CPKC International, presented by Rolex, at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ 2025 in Calgary, Canada.

The third Major of the year in the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping – with the unprecedented prize pot of 5 million CAD – was a thriller where the best of the best prevailed, with Brash taking another Major-title with his 16-year-old gelding Hello Jefferson ahead of Kyle King and the 10-year-old mare Kayenne Z in second and Steve Guerdat aboard the 16-year-old gelding Venard de Cerisy in third.

The seriousness of the challenge was clear from the get-go. With two liverpools at fence no. four and five, and an open water at fence no. seven, the course for the first round ended with a tricky triple combination as the penultimate fence before a stretch over the final CPKC oxer. It was the time allowed of 80 seconds that caught out the pathfinders, Donald Whitaker (GBR) and Millfield Colette (Cornet Obolensky x Clearway) who picked up four time penalties. However, right after, Germany’s Daniel Deusser (GER) and Otello de Guldenboom (Tobago Z x Caretino) posted a picture perfect clear – showing that it was possible to get within the time.

“Today, we are very far from nature, and that makes me feel bad,” the course designer Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) commented afterwards. “The reality is, I design courses with focus on not being bad to the horses but challenging the riders – and the good riders can solve the problems."

Out of the 36 horse-and-rider combinations at start, eleven managed to jump clear over the challenging first-round track: Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) and Katanga v/h Dingeshof (Cardento 933 x Tornedo FCS), Jörne Sprehe (GER) and Sprehe Hot Easy (Andiamo Z x Otangelo), Roy Van Beek (BEL) and Cavoiro-H OLD (Casallco x Calido I), Yuri Mansur (BRA) and QH Alfons Santo Antonio (Aromats x False Pass), the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping Live Contender Martin Fuchs (SUI) on Leone Jei (Baltic VDL x Corland), Sophie Hinners (GER) and Iron Dames My Prins (Zilverstar T x Winningmood), Kyle King (USA) and Kayenne Z (Kannan x Canezaro), Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Jefferson (Cooper van de Heffinck x Irco Mena), Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Venard de Cerisy (Open Up Semilly x Djalisco du Guet) and Max Kühner (AUT) aboard Elektric Blue P (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x For Pleasure) all found the answers to Palacios’ questions.

With the twelve best moving forward to round two, Willem Greve (NED) and Grandorado TN. N.O.P. (Eldorado vd Zeshoek x Carolus II) slotted in with a single time penalty.

The second round proved to be another almighty challenge, with no clear rounds posted. Martin Fuchs – who was looking for a hat-trick after having won the CPKC ‘International’ on the two previous occasions, in 2024 and 2023, in addition to being the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping live contender after winning the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen this summer – saw his dreams shattered as he parted ways with Leone Jei at the first fence of the second round.

With a fence down each, Brash and King tied on four penalties – and a jump-off was needed to decide the title. “When we had the ditches down in the second round, I thought that was it, over – it just shows what a test it was,” Brash explained about the surprise of getting the chance to return to the International Ring for a jump-off.

Going first, Brash posted an immaculate round over the seven-fence jump-off. Getting a perfect roll-back to the wall at fence three, he slowed down to the following double before cantering down to the final CPKC oxer, to cross the finish line in 46.97 seconds. King followed, taking a more daring approach, and did best Brash’s time – however, on the cost of the Canada-plank falling, leaving the title with Brash and Hello Jefferson.

Having won the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping at this very venue in 2015, Brash was overwhelmed with emotion after taking another Major-title. “Shocked, surprised and delighted to be sitting here,” he said at the press conference. “I thought my day was over, but thankfully we got another chance. I’m just absolutely delighted for my horse, I think more than anything, he deserves a title. He has been such a good horse for so many years, we have had ups and downs, but he has been a fantastic horse so I think it is great he got the title now.”

“I know how competitive the field is, but I was just happy with where my horse was at – but you never know what this man is going to build,” Brash shared his feeling coming into Sunday. “I think when we all come to Calgary, we know what we are in for; it is the biggest and richest Grand Prix in the world, so we know it is going to be an almighty test. I think it takes an experienced horse to be able to jump around it. I think Leopoldo has done a good job again. When I first walked it, I thought ‘oh’ – but he knows what he is doing.”

“It is the 8th time for my owners Lord and Lady Harris to be winning this Grand Prix,” Brash said about his great supporters. “I have been so lucky with my owners to have fantastic horses like Sanctos, Ursula and now Jefferson, and to be able to win this Grand Prix. It is hard enough to have a horse capable of jumping this class, let alone winning it. I have been very lucky in my life,” Brash, who has won this very Grand Prix with Hello Sanctos, Hello Ursula XII and now with Hello Jefferson, said.

For runner-up Kyle King, finishing second was as good as gold. “I have been coming to Calgary my whole life, and it has always been one of my biggest dreams, probably bigger than anything, to win this Grand Prix,” he said. “Spruce Meadows has been my way of riding against this calibre in my life; I never showed in Europe, but Europe comes to Calgary once a year. I just feel a special connection to Spruce Meadows, and to me, it was a win, and I’ll take it.”

“I kind of had nothing to lose at that point,” King said about his strategy for the jump-off. “I saw that he was quick enough and his horse looks quick in general. I got a really good roll-back to the wall, but my mare is pretty green and I don’t have much control of her, so I just had to dial it up and it showed just right. I thought the plank showed up probably better than anything else, honestly. When I heard them fall, I did slow down. I was surprised that I still beat his time. I am really proud with the way it all worked out; to be here with these guys is pretty amazing.”

Picking up five penalties in round two, Steve Guerdat and Venard de Cerisy completed the podium in third. “I am very happy, I am not disappointed,” the current world number eight said. “I think I could have ridden my line a little bit better in the second round. I am not so disappointed about the time fault, because I think to give him the chance to jump the fences, I knew I would be close to the time. It was something I was ready to accept, because I knew there would not be many clear rounds. I am very happy and it was a fantastic class again, great sport and I couldn’t ask for much more.”

“A few times this week, as I was walking the course, I stopped and went to my colleagues and said ‘I love it’,” Guerdat shared about his appreciation to the venue at Spruce Meadows, that this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, and the work of Leopoldo Palacios. “It is so cool to have these different kind of courses, sometimes with the wall, sometimes with the roll-back, the way he plays with the lines and the fences and the setting of the fences. It is just so nice because it is the only time in the year we see it. If we go back a few years, the first time I was sitting at this press conference, I was second in the Grand Prix, and I complained. I complained about Leopoldo and what he was doing, that it was too tough and that he had to change something and that the show had to change something. Thank God they didn’t listen to me! As people and athletes, sometimes we don’t like to be challenged, we like comfort. And that is not what we are here for. I would say thanks to Leopoldo and his team and thanks to Spruce, I became a better rider and my horses became better horses. I really hope you are going to keep going and I hope other course designers learn from you.”

The Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping will continue in Geneva in December, host to the fourth and last Major of 2025. Brash will be heading to Geneva as the new Grand Slam live contender, and will be rewarded with a bonus of 500,000 Euros should he win this prestigious Swiss Grand Prix.