Scott Brash doesn't do things by halves. The World No. 2 closed out the four-week Doha Equestrian Tour with his third consecutive 1.60m Grand Prix victory, this time aboard the 17-year-old Hello Jefferson. It's shaping up to be one of the most dominant starts to a season we've seen in years.

Peter Schumacher built a masterclass in course design. Of the 39 starters in Round 1, seven went clear, but only three remained faultless through both rounds. That 7.7% double-clear rate shows just how demanding the test was. This was a two-round Grand Prix: the top 12 riders return for a full second course against the clock, cumulative scores determining the final standings. No shortened jump-off route, no second chances. Just raw horsemanship under the weight of knowing every second counts.

Brash rode Hello Jefferson beautifully through both rounds, posting a clear in 52.97 seconds in Round 2 to claim the €195,000 winner's cheque. 🇫🇷 Megane Moissonnier on Crooner Tame finished just under two seconds back at 54.90, with 🇨🇭 Nadja Peter Steiner on Mila rounding out the podium at 55.51. 🇬🇧 Harry Charles, who'd gone clear in Round 1, picked up four faults in the second round to miss out.

"Hello Jefferson was amazing today. His second round was even better than the first one," Brash said after the win. "He is a fantastic horse; he is 17 years old now, but he feels like a young horse. He loves to jump. Doha is one of his favourite arenas — there is so much space here."

The Brit was quick to credit his team for managing the tour logistics across four horses and four weeks. "I'm unbelievably lucky, I have 4 unbelievable horses here. It makes my life easier to manage them well and try to pick the right classes for them. And my team is amazing; we are in a really good run... It's a result of years of hard work."

This wasn't just another race. Across the entire Doha tour, Brash won three consecutive 5* Grand Prix: two on Hello Jefferson and one on Hello Mango. Add two 3* GP victories on Hello Folie and Hello Chadora Lady, and you're looking at five Grand Prix wins in a single month. Kent Farrington sits at World No. 1 with 3,487 ranking points; Brash is at 3,222. That 265-point gap is going to look very different by the time March rolls around.

Doha CSI5 Grand Prix Podium:

At the 3* level, 🇸🇦 Abdullah Alsharbatly took the Grand Prix aboard Quisandro in a 34.73-second jump-off. 🇩🇪 Janne F. Meyer-Zimmermann on Iron Dames High Level was second at 34.90, with 🇩🇪 Philipp Weishaupt on Callao L completing the podium at 35.17.

Doha CSI3 Grand Prix Podium:

Kent Farrington, still firmly planted at the top of the world rankings with 3,487 points, opened the Thermal week the way you'd expect: cleanly and efficiently. The American took the 1.55m World Cup Qualifier on Thursday aboard Orafina, posting a 34.83-second jump-off to claim the win. 🇧🇪 Gregory Wathelet on Argentina de La Marchette was second at 36.95, with 🇺🇸 Callie Schott on Uricas v/d Kattevennen third with 4 faults in 41.05. Banking another set of points toward his World Cup campaign. No fuss, no drama. Just Farrington doing what Farrington does best.

Thermal World Cup Qualifier Podium:

The 1.60m Longines World Cup was a completely different story. One of the best pieces of sport this week. Alan Wade built a course that kept 21 of 28 starters off the scoreboard in Round 1, with just seven going clear. That set up a seven-horse jump-off, and what followed was genuinely nail-biting.

🇺🇸 Kyle King rode Kayenne Z to a clear round in 36.46 seconds: fast, clean, and ultimately winning. But it wasn't straightforward. 🇧🇪 Gregory Wathelet posted the fastest jump-off time in the class at 36.33 seconds, then watched a rail drop and send him back to fifth. 🇺🇸 Kent Farrington was flying at 36.51 on Toulayna when his own rail came down, dropping the World No. 1 to sixth. 🇺🇸 Karl Cook on Foxy de la Roque pushed King hard at 36.60. Just 0.14 seconds separated first from second. 🇮🇪 Conor Swail rounded out the drama with a clean 41.12 for fourth.

That's showjumping. The two fastest riders in the class both had rails, and the guy who held his nerve took it home.

King was effusive about Kayenne Z after the win. "This horse means everything. This mare has been delivering dreams one after another here," he said. "She keeps delivering dream after dream... [I realized] she could handle some pressure, and I could feel that she was growing, and she's special—kind of like a bull. She has done amazing things—things I've wanted to do my whole career. I've been waiting for a horse like this."

On the winning jump-off round, King admitted the final line didn't go exactly to plan—but "it became the winning move." And with Farrington breathing down his neck in the order? "I knew Kent could catch me, obviously, if he was clear."

Longines World Cup of Thermal Podium:

Cook also picked up the CSI2* Grand Prix on Home-Run earlier in the week, while Wathelet had taken the Friday Classic on Argentina de la Marchette before his heartbreaking Sunday.

Roger-Yves Bost hasn't won a 5* Grand Prix since Madrid in 2017. That's nearly nine years, an eternity at the top of this sport. So when the Frenchman rode Ballerine du Vilpion into a ten-horse jump-off at Hong Kong's AsiaWorld-Expo, with the city buzzing ahead of Chinese New Year and the Year of the Horse just around the corner, and came out on top? Bost at 60 years old, back on a Grand Prix podium after all those years.

Bernardo Costa Cabral set the course, and it produced a generous jump-off field: ten horses clearing the first round out of 21 starters. But once the flags went up, Bost was composed from the first stride. His 34.94-second round was clean and controlled, and it held up. 🇫🇷 Simon Delestre on Golden Boy DK pushed him with 35.21, but Bost had just enough. 🇳🇴 Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen on Equine America Harwich VDL completed the podium at 37.60.

Hong Kong CSI5 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

If Bost had the headline, 🇩🇪 Richard Vogel had the depth. The World No. 6, who was in the Grand Prix jump-off himself on Cloudio but didn't medal there, turned his week around completely by winning both the Reach for Skies (1.55m) and the Speed Stakes (1.50m), both aboard Phenyo van het Keysersbos. Two wins, one horse, zero fuss. Vogel at his best is just ruthless.

Reach for Skies Podium: Full Results

Speed Stakes Podium: Full Results

On the youth side of things, 🇭🇰 Carrie Wang took the HKJC Asian Youth Challenge. A nice moment for local talent in front of a home crowd.

Germany took the Nations Cup at Sharjah with 10 faults, beating the home UAE team (12 faults) by two. Ireland finished third with 20 faults.

Sharjah CSIO4 Nations Cup Podium: Full Results

In the Grand Prix, 🇧🇪 Constant Van Paesschen took the win aboard Diaz du Thot in a 39.78-second jump-off. 🇸🇪 Antonia Pettersson Häggström on Komme Vous was second at 40.53, with 🇸🇦 Ramzy Al Duhami on Addressee completing the podium at 41.23.

Sharjah CSIO4 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

🇮🇪 Shane Sweetnam took the $215,000 Grand Prix at WEF Week 4 in a 41.40-second jump-off on Coriaan van Klapscheut Z. 🇮🇪 Bertram Allen was second at 41.95 and 🇺🇸 Natalie Dean third at 44.03. Sweetnam, ranked 12th globally, is clearly hitting his stride early in the winter season, and Wellington keeps delivering week after week.

Wellington CSI4 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

🇮🇪 Daniel Coyle pulled off the double at Ocala, winning both the $200,000 CSI4* Grand Prix on Farrel and the CSI2* Grand Prix on Urville Z. The 4* GP was a tight three-way jump-off: Coyle cleared in 39.24 to beat 🇬🇧 Jessica Mendoza on In The Air (39.70) and 🇫🇷 Nina Mallevaey on Nikka vd Bisschop (40.11). Mallevaey, now in the world top 10, keeps building an impressive early-season CV.

Ocala CSI4 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

An all-Polish affair at the top in Lodz, with 🇵🇱 Jaroslaw Skrzyczynski taking the Grand Prix on Komboy and a Polish 1-2-3 across the podium. Good to see the domestic depth coming through.

Lodz CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

🇮🇹 Emiliano Liberati won the Valencia Grand Prix aboard Aruba Island in a 37.23-second jump-off, with fellow Italian 🇮🇹 Piergiorgio Bucci on Cortez Van'T Klein Asdonk Z taking second at 37.92. 🇫🇷 Alexa Ferrer on Casanova Zsz rounded out the podium at 39.45. Liberati's been in solid form this winter and this keeps the run going.

Valencia CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

🇧🇪 Seppe Wouters took the Grand Prix at Oliva on Quito de Mariposa in a 43.13-second jump-off, with 🇧🇪 Bart Jay Junior Vandecasteele on Vamos de La Pomme d'Or Z second at 50.17 and 🇧🇪 Jérôme Guery on Qartouche de La Pomme d'OR third with 4 faults in 42.91. An all-Belgian affair. The depth continues to impress.

Oliva CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

A Mexican showdown at San Miguel de Allende saw 🇲🇽 Arturo Parada Vallejo win the Grand Prix aboard Laretto in a 36.52-second jump-off. The local favourite beat 🇲🇽 Nicolas Pizarro, who had two horses in the jump-off: Chou Fleur RA (2nd, clear in 39.69) and Farino Du Guinefort (3rd, 4 faults in 37.81). Two mounts on one podium. Not bad at all.

San Miguel de Allende CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full Results

Two significant horse moves this week. The 14-year-old Zangersheide stallion Santos Z has been sold to the United States. Norwegian rider Therese Søhol Henriksen confirmed the departure, though the buyer hasn't been publicly named yet. One to watch as it lands.

Highway TN is confirmed to have joined the string of 🇺🇸 Lillie Keenan in the US. Another piece of the transatlantic market doing its thing this time of year.

On the business side, EquiRatings and Wellington have announced a new partnership to enhance data and fan engagement across the WEF winter circuit. Smart move for the sport's data infrastructure. More on that as details come through.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI5/CSI2 Wellington – WEF Week 5 (USA, February 3–8)

The winter circuit rolls on with another big week at WEF. After Sweetnam's win this week, the 5* Grand Prix on Sunday is the main event. With the season finding its rhythm, expect the depth of field to keep growing. Who steps up next?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI5-W Bordeaux (France, February 7–8)

A condensed weekend World Cup qualifier in France. With the WC season building, this one's short and sweet but the points matter. A sharp field looking to bank early-season qualifier results before the calendar gets crowded.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4 Vejer de la Frontera (Spain, February 3–8)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4-W Puebla (Mexico, February 3–8)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4/CSI2 Ocala (USA, February 3–8)

⭐⭐⭐ CSI3-W Kuwait (Kuwait, February 4–7)

⭐⭐⭐ CSI3 Sharjah (UAE, February 5–8)

⭐⭐⭐ CSI3 Valencia (Spain, February 3–8)

This week gets an 8.9/10 for three genuinely compelling 5 storylines across three continents.

Brash's three-peat in Doha and the early shape of a Brash-Farrington duopoly at the top of the sport, Bost's stunning comeback after nine years away from the top step, and the razor-thin 0.14-second margin in the Thermal World Cup jump-off all delivered real drama. Schumacher's Doha course (seven first-round clears, three double clear) was elite-level design. Stay tuned next week as WEF brings its first week of 5* competition!

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