Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and the 10-year-old gelding Coriaan van Klapscheut Z (Comme Il Faut 5 x Lord Z) won the first of the two qualifiers for Saturday night’s Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival - Rolex Finale Week held at Wellington International in Wellington, Florida, USA. 

The $1,000,000 CSI5* 1.60m Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix marks the start of the Rolex Series 2026, and takes place on Saturday, March 28, at 8.00 PM local time – under the floodlights of Wellington International’s magnificent main arena. 

The Rolex Series unites seven of the world’s most esteemed show jumping events, and the highlight of each of them is the Rolex Grand Prix. At the Winter Equestrian Festival - Rolex Finale Week, forty athletes qualify for the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix; the 30 best from Thursday’s CSI5* 1.55m Table A over two rounds, and the ten best from Friday’s CSI5* 1.50m Table A over one round against the clock. 

A total of 60 horse-and-rider combinations lined up for Thursday’s qualifier, with the top twelve from the first round allowed back for round two. A world-class field of athletes had entered this competition, hoping to earn themselves qualification for the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix, with big names such as world no. 2 Kent Farrington (USA), world no. 3 Ben Maher (GBR), world no. 4 Richard Vogel (GER), world no. 6 Christian Kukuk (GER), world no. 7 Nina Mallevaey (FRA), world no. 9 Shane Sweetnam (IRL), as well as world no. 10 McLain Ward (USA), all on the start list.

With six consecutive clear rounds being delivered early on in the competition over Guilherme Jorge’s track of thirteen fences, it was obvious from the get-go that time would become a decisive factor in order to be among the top twelve moving on to round two. In the end, a total of 25 athletes stayed clear on the fences – all of them earning qualification for Saturday’s Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix. 

A shortened eight-fence track waited for the horses and riders in round two, as they returned in reverse order of their times in the first round – with the fastest going last. Five of the twelve riders that had made it chose not to return – Nicola Philippaerts (BEL), Darragh Kenny (IRL), Nina Mallevaey (FRA), Karl Cook (USA) and Spencer Smith (USA) – opting to save their horses for the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix. That made the second round a battle of seven. 

Coming back as the third pair for round two, Shane Sweetnam and Coriaan van Klapscheut Z posted the first clear with a lightning-fast round in 39.71 seconds. None of the remaining four could catch the duo; poles fell for all apart from last-to-go Richard Vogel (GER) who slotted into second with the wonderful Cloudio (Casall x San Patrignano Cassini) with a time of 40.53 seconds. A rail down in 39.55 seconds left Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Hummer Z (Harley VDL x Hemmingway) to third. 

“Obviously this is a pressure class, because it is a qualifier for Saturday night,” Sweetnam commented after his win. “I think the best field that has been at the Winter Equestrian Festival so far, and obviously a top class, big enough, and a ticket to win is really important.”

“There were two plans for him,” Sweetnam said of Coriaan van Klapscheut Z’s program for the Rolex Finale Week, where the Irish rider will be partnering with his top mount James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising) in the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix. “One; to qualify. Two; to win the class. That’s the way I looked at it. Coriaan is in a great place, and I felt he definitely could go clear and obviously have a chance to win so I thought that was a better gamble and also keeps James Kann Cruz fresh for Saturday night.”

“Coriaan is a brilliant horse; he is so consistent, especially in the last six weeks we have really sort of figured each other out and we’re in contention for most classes. When we do have a rail, it’s unlucky. Eric Lamaze used to ride his grandmother and she won a lot here in this ring, so it’s in his blood a little bit,” Sweetnam said of his winning mount.

“It has a real big Grand Prix feel about it, not just for America but really for the world,” Sweetnam (45) said looking ahead to the Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix. “Now with the $1,000,000 this year, it has an extra feel, so it’s obviously a big part of our calendar every year for our best horse.”