Before we get into it, a moment to acknowledge the passing of Johan Philippaerts 🇧🇪 on February 21 at the age of 55. A foundational figure in one of showjumping's most prolific dynasties, Johan dedicated his life to developing young riders after his own competition career, playing an instrumental role in shaping the careers of his nephews Olivier, Nicola, Thibault, and Anthony. His quiet dedication to classical horsemanship and equine welfare left an indelible mark on the Belgian program and the wider sport. Rest in peace.

Ward Turns Heartbreak Into Gold Under the Saturday Night Lights

The first five-star action of the 2026 WEF season delivered exactly the kind of drama Wellington does best. Just twelve days after losing his top horse Imperial HBF to a sudden, fatal bout of colic, McLain Ward 🇺🇸 rode High Star Hero to a wire-to-wire victory in the $500,000 Modon Grand Prix, making every stride count when it mattered most.

Anthony d'Ambrosio and Andy Christiansen's 1.60m track was brutal. Only five clear rounds from 31 starters (a 16% clear rate, right in line with the historical WEF average), setting up a five-horse, five-nation jump-off. Ward went first, setting the pace at 39.14 seconds with a round that balanced calculated risk with raw foot speed. He added a stride to the last fence but trusted High Star Hero's gallop across the ground, and the time held.

Mark Bluman 🇨🇴 came closest with Landon de Nyze in 39.71 seconds, admitting afterward he should have taken more risk into the double combination. Shane Sweetnam 🇮🇪 completed the podium aboard the remarkably consistent James Kann Cruz (39.91 seconds), marking their 20th individual top-three finish in a five-star 1.60m. Sweetnam noted the 13-year-old gelding hasn't had a rail in a Grand Prix since Dublin last August. Richard Vogel 🇩🇪 posted the fastest raw time of the night (37.34s) but pulled a rail on Gangster Montdesir, while Nina Mallevaey 🇫🇷 and Dynastie de Beaufour also had four faults.

Ward was visibly emotional afterward, dedicating the win to his team at Castle Hill. The week also marked Darragh Kenny's 🇮🇪 return to international competition following the lifting of a four-month provisional suspension related to a legitimately prescribed ADHD medication. Kenny wasted no time, winning Thursday's $116,100 Challenge Cup aboard Eddy Blue in a blistering 37.90-second jump-off, with Bertram Allen 🇮🇪, who had kept Kenny's horses in peak condition during his absence, finishing second.

$500,000 Modon CSI5 Grand Prix Podium: Full results

Greve Makes History With Third World Cup Win of the Season

Willem Greve 🇳🇱 is having the indoor season of a lifetime. Riding the 15-year-old Grandorado TN N.O.P. last to go in an eight-horse jump-off, Greve stopped the clock at 42.19 seconds to win the penultimate Western European League qualifier at the iconic Scandinavium arena. It was his third World Cup win of the 2025/2026 campaign (after Stuttgart and La Coruña), a feat that is exceptionally rare in the modern era where parity among the top 50 riders makes multi-win seasons incredibly difficult.

Peter Schumacher's 1.60m track across the Scandinavium's unique oval arena yielded an ideal 22% clear rate, with the continuous, sweeping geometry forcing horses to jump out of turns rather than off straight approaches. Compatriot Kim Emmen 🇳🇱 secured a Dutch one-two aboard Imagine N.O.P. in 42.65 seconds, underscoring the depth of the Netherlands' elite string. For the home crowd, Tokyo Olympic team gold medalist Malin Baryard-Johnsson 🇸🇪 delivered, guiding the remarkable 18-year-old H&M Indiana to third (42.90 seconds), averting a feared Swedish podium shutout. Just 0.71 seconds separated the entire podium.

The stakes were enormous. Greve now leads the WEL standings with 81 points, mathematically secured for the Fort Worth Finals. Defending champion Julien Epaillard 🇫🇷 sits second (69 pts), Daniel Deusser 🇩🇪 third (66 pts), Max Kühner 🇦🇹 fourth (64 pts). The bubble riders heading to Helsinki for the final qualifier are sweating. Elsewhere at Gothenburg, Patrick Stühlmeyer 🇩🇪 won the €175,000 Gothenburg Trophy on Conterno-Blue PS (his first five-star win since 2016), Daniel Deusser 🇩🇪 claimed his 30th career five-star win (1.55m+) aboard Otello de Guldenbloom, and Robert Whitaker 🇬🇧 pulled off a brilliant double, including winning a jump-off while a gel pad fell off his horse's back mid-round. That's one way to keep things interesting.

Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Podium: Full results

Zanotelli's Speed Machine Delivers in the Desert

Marlon Modolo Zanotelli 🇧🇷 and the 10-year-old mare Charly Heart made it look effortless. In a jump-off that demanded both raw speed and surgical precision under the floodlights of the Longines Outdoor Arena, Zanotelli's 36.65-second round was untouchable, earning the Brazilian €172,500 and the biggest prize of the week anywhere in the world.

Uliano Vezzani's first-round track over 1.60m was vintage Maestro: tight time allowed (84 seconds), wide oxers demanding scope immediately followed by delicate verticals requiring instant collection. Eleven clear rounds from 42 starters (26% clear rate) advanced to a jump-off with its own 52-second time limit. Pieter Devos 🇧🇪 and the homebred Casual DV Z finished second in 37.84 seconds. The fact that Devos bred, raised, and campaigned this mare to the absolute summit of five-star competition in an era of eight-figure horse purchases makes this one of the more impressive stories in the sport right now. Roger Chammas 🇱🇧 delivered a composed 39.64-second round for third aboard Glondon Di San Giovanni, a landmark result for Lebanese showjumping against a field packed with Olympic champions.

Breeding nerds will note that both Charly Heart and Casual DV Z are sired by Cornet Obolensky, the top two finishers in a 1.60m Grand Prix both by the same stallion. The Cornet dominance at this level continues to be a defining trend.

World No. 1 Scott Brash 🇬🇧 opted to keep the 17-year-old Hello Jefferson out of the 1.60m Grand Prix after already banking two five-star wins earlier in the week with the gelding. Brash instead rode Hello Mango in the Grand Prix, picking up four faults. Smart string management from the man who knows exactly what it takes to stay on top.

€575,000 CHI Al Shaqab Grand Prix Podium: Full results

Saïd Seals the Deal as World Cup Qualifiers Are Finalized

The final Arab League qualifier for the Fort Worth World Cup Finals delivered on its promise. Abdel Saïd 🇧🇪 and the 11-year-old Quaker Brimbelles Z dominated Louis Konickx's demanding two-round 1.55m track, putting together a double-clear in 50.18 seconds to claim the €60,000 top prize and confirm his World Cup qualification credentials.

Konickx's course was unforgiving: an 81-second time allowed in the first round meant only seven combinations from 35 starters went clear, while the 64-second second round tested stamina and precision under pressure. Sophie Hinners 🇩🇪 continued her outstanding consistency with Iron Dames Kaleni Jo, finishing second (0/0, 51.62s), while René Tebbel 🇺🇦 completed the podium aboard Paulus-L (0/0, 52.81s), a horse he only took over from Frédéric Vernaet late last year.

The big talking point? Henrik von Eckermann's 🇸🇪 disastrous 21-fault Grand Prix aboard Qasirah van de Reistenhoek. A refusal destroyed the pair's rhythm, cascading into 4 jumping faults and 17 time penalties. A rare, baffling result from a former World No. 1, though it's worth noting he finished third in Saturday's 1.55m class with the same horse just the day before. The Middle East Sub-League World Cup qualifiers are now finalized: Ramzy Al Duhami 🇸🇦, Ali Al Khorafi 🇰🇼, and Omar Abdul Aziz Al Marzooqi 🇦🇪 have secured their tickets to Fort Worth.

€200,000 CSI5-W Sharjah Ruler Cup Podium: Full results

Daniel Bluman 🇮🇱 snatched victory aboard Corbie V.V. (Cornet Obolensky x Chacco Blue) with a 37.17-second jump-off, narrowly beating Kent Farrington 🇺🇸 and the 9-year-old Descartes SR. Six combinations made the jump-off from 24 starters.

$200,000 CSI4 Grand Prix Podium: Full results

🥇 Daniel Bluman 🇮🇱 - Corbie V.V. - 0/0, 37.17s

🥈 Kent Farrington 🇺🇸 - Descartes SR - 0/0, 37.42s

🥉 Brian Moggre 🇺🇸 - MTM Vivre Le Reve - 0/0, 37.67s

Grégory Bodo's track was savage. Only three clear rounds from 50 starters, and all three pulled rails in the jump-off, meaning the final standings came down to fastest four-faulters.

CSI4 Andalucía Invitational GP Podium: Full results

🥇 Mathieu Billot 🇫🇷 - Heartlove de Pleville - 0/4, 43.46s

🥈 Pilar Lucrecia Cordon 🇪🇸 - Pica Pica Z - 0/4, 43.92s

🥉 Julio Arias Cueva 🇪🇸 - Filou du Manoir - 0/8, 41.36s

Cassio Rivetti 🇧🇷 won on the grass at Desert Circuit 7, the European-developed AGS Casallida proving her turf credentials with a commanding jump-off win.

$117,000 CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full results

🥇 Cassio Rivetti 🇧🇷 - AGS Casallida - 0/0, 43.08s

🥈 Ali Ramsay 🇨🇦 - Conrado 12 - 0/0, 44.65s

🥉 Kaitlin Campbell 🇺🇸 - Cosm Castlefield Cornelious - 0/0, 45.22s

Eduardo Alvarez Aznar 🇪🇸 delivered a rapid 35.86-second jump-off win with Genaro Paulois. Just 0.62 seconds covered the entire podium.

CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full results

🥇 Eduardo Alvarez Aznar 🇪🇸 - Genaro Paulois - 0/0, 35.86s

🥈 Anna Power 🇬🇧 - Mcqueen - 0/0, 36.28s

🥉 Edward Levy 🇫🇷 - Griss de Kerglenn - 0/0, 36.48s

The ageless Belano Vd Wijnhoeve Z keeps defying time. The 17-year-old gelding and Mariano Martinez Bastida 🇪🇸 won their 11th Grand Prix together, blazing to 49.57 seconds in the jump-off, nearly three seconds clear of the field.

CSI3 Grand Prix Podium: Full results

🥇 Mariano Martinez Bastida 🇪🇸 - Belano Vd Wijnhoeve Z - 0/0, 49.57s

🥈 Matheus Ferreira Gomes Corrêa 🇧🇷 - Graal Un Prince Domm - 0/0, 52.66s

🥈 Charlotte Ash 🇬🇧 - Irma-Riende - 0/0, 52.66s

Mexican riders went 1-2 on home soil with a decisive double-clear from Juan Carlos Alvarez del Castillo B. 🇲🇽.

CSI3 Gran Premio 1.50m Podium: Full results

🥇 Juan Carlos Alvarez del Castillo B. 🇲🇽 - Helios de Hyame - 0/0, 37.00s

🥈 Juan Pablo Gaspar Albañez 🇲🇽 - Kacentano RA - 0/0, 38.45s

🥉 Maria Gabriela Brugal Gasso 🇩🇴 - J'Adore Flamenco - 0/0, 39.08s

NAL World Cup Qualifier, Ocala 🇺🇸

Mimi Gochman 🇺🇸 punched her ticket to the Fort Worth Finals with the sole double-clear of the night aboard Iron Maiden (0/0, 41.79s), vaulting from 7th to 2nd in the East Coast league standings. The 22-year-old will compete in her first senior championship in April.

Modon Stakes Its Claim in Wellington

Abu Dhabi-based Modon Holding officially activated its investment in Wellington Lifestyle Partners, immediately securing title sponsorship of the Week 7 CSI5* Grand Prix and unveiling "Modon International Clubs" at WEF and AGDF. Middle Eastern sovereign-level capital is now firmly embedded in North American equestrianism's most important venue, one that generates over $500 million annually for Palm Beach County.

The Road to Fort Worth Gets Real

With one WEL qualifier remaining in Helsinki (March 1), the World Cup Finals picture is sharpening fast. Greve leads at 81 points with Epaillard (69), Deusser (66), Kühner (64), and Gulliksen (63) all mathematically secured. Below the line, it's absolute chaos, with Ben Maher 🇬🇧, Kevin Staut 🇫🇷, and Alain Jufer 🇨🇭 among those fighting for the final spots. Henrik von Eckermann 🇸🇪 has officially opted out of the indoor circuit, prioritizing King Edward for LA 2028, meaning the World Cup title is guaranteed to change hands.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI5*-W Helsinki International Horse Show (Finland, Feb 27 - Mar 1)

The final Western European League qualifier. The last chance for bubble riders to punch their tickets to Fort Worth. Expect desperate, high-risk riding from anyone hovering around the cutoff. The tactical rivalry between Guerdat and Epaillard in a pressure-cooker indoor arena should be worth the watch alone.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSIO4* WEF Week 8 Nations Cup, Wellington (USA, Feb 25 - Mar 1)

Team competition arrives at WEF. The US squad of Ward, Cook, Little, and Schott will carry the weight of home-crowd expectations against strong Irish and British contingents. The $200,000 Nations Cup on Saturday night is the highlight.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4* WEC Winter Spectacular IX, Ocala (USA, Feb 25 - Mar 1)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4* Guadalajara Country Club (Mexico)

⭐⭐⭐⭐ CSI4* Andalucía Sunshine Tour Week 4, Vejer de la Frontera (Spain)

⭐⭐⭐ CSI3* Oliva Spring MET III (Spain)

⭐⭐⭐ CSI3* Valencia Moura Tours (Spain)

Four simultaneous five-star events across three continents. Ward's deeply emotional comeback victory under the Saturday Night Lights, Greve writing himself into World Cup history, Zanotelli's speed masterclass in the richest Grand Prix of the week, competitive World Cup qualification drama on two fronts, and the passing of a beloved figure in Johan Philippaerts. The sheer volume of elite sport was impressive, though no single Grand Prix quite hit that truly heart-stopping level of drama. Lots of good rather than one unforgettable moment.

This week gets a 9.0/10.

Stay tuned to jumpoff.news for all the latest. Make sure to subscribe, share with fellow equestrians, and follow all the action as it unfolds, here at JumpOff.news, elite showjumping news, jump-off speed!