Forty-nine Grand Prix. Thirty-nine different winning horses.
Major League Show Jumping rides into its 50th Grand Prix this weekend at Silo Ridge. This guide covers every Grand Prix from the first at Traverse City in July 2021 to Greenwich last month. The names at the top of the honour roll are familiar, but the defining feature of the series is how often somebody new wins. The early call for No. 50, on EquiRatings Elo, is James Kann Cruz or Toulayna.
No. 50: the Highlands Cup at Silo Ridge
Silo Ridge, in Amenia in New York's Hudson Valley, joined Major League last October. The Highlands Cup is the second week of the Highlands Horse Show, following the three-star Silo Ridge Masters: a one-ring show at Higher Ground Farm, inside the Silo Ridge development. Ninety-three combinations are entered this weekend.
Last year
Forty-one started the first Highlands Cup Grand Prix and 12 went clear, a 29% clear rate. Five then jumped double clear in the jump-off, and the first three were split by 0.81 seconds. Rene Dittmer and Corsica X won in 42.01 seconds, 0.15 ahead of Gregory Wathelet and Ace of Hearts, with Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz third.
Dittmer and Corsica X were rated eighth in the field on Elo. Corsica X is not entered this year; Dittmer comes back with Cody 139. Several of last year's top ten return: James Kann Cruz (3rd), McLain Ward's High Star Hero (6th), Adrienne Sternlicht's Faquitol-S (7th) and Daniel Bluman's Corbie V.V. (9th). Toulayna, the highest-rated horse in last year's field, had a fence down and finished 13th.
The early call: James Kann Cruz or Toulayna
On EquiRatings Elo, two horses stand clear of the field. James Kann Cruz (790) and Toulayna (779) are 11 points apart and at least 33 points ahead of anything else entered. That is a lean, not a lock: the top-rated combination has won 11 of the 49 Grand Prix so far.
Elo entering the show. Top five of the 93 combinations entered.
| Clear rate in 2026 | Clears | Clear % |
|---|---|---|
| Toulayna Kent Farrington | 3 of 3 | 100% |
| Descartes SR Kent Farrington | 5 of 7 | 71% |
| James Kann Cruz Shane Sweetnam | 10 of 17 | 59% |
| Ascadina PP Z Jessica Mendoza | 3 of 6 | 50% |
| Landon De Nyze Mark Bluman | 4 of 9 | 44% |
| Ideaal ES Chris Pratt | 3 of 7 | 43% |
| Akarad Tivoli Z Christian Kukuk | 1 of 3 | 33% |
| High Star Hero McLain Ward | 3 of 10 | 30% |
Five-star and championship rounds at 1.60m and above in 2026, horses with three or more rounds.
James Kann Cruz has the rating and the form: ten clears from 17 big rounds this year, and he has not finished outside the top three in a Major League Grand Prix since October 2024. Toulayna has gone clear in all three of her big rounds this year, but she has run sparingly. Descartes SR is the dark horse. He has only run seven big rounds this year but has gone clear in five, and in four Major League Grand Prix he has won once and finished second twice, including behind Corbie V.V. at Greenwich last month.
Seven previous winners are entered: Ariso, James Kann Cruz, Toulayna, Kick On, Corbie V.V., Descartes SR and My Clementine. Six of them, Corbie V.V. included, won during the run of 22 different winning horses that ended at Greenwich. If any of the other 86 wins, No. 50 will be the 40th different horse to win a Major League Grand Prix.
A record-equalling win
A win for James Kann Cruz, Toulayna or Corbie V.V. would be their third, level with Donatello 141 and Kalinka van't Zorgvliet for the most by any horse.
Back to back
Corbie V.V. won Greenwich. Only Jordan Coyle and Ariso have won consecutive legs. A Corbie win would also give Daniel Bluman five, level with Kent Farrington.
McLain Ward's 20th try
Ward has never won a Major League Grand Prix. High Star Hero has been second in two of his last three starts in the series.
Farrington's sixth
Kent Farrington has two of the top 11 horses on Elo entered, Toulayna and Descartes SR. Either would take his record to six wins.
For media and commentary teams
Lines you can use straight away. Every figure comes from the full results of all 49 Major League Grand Prix, 2021 to 2026.
- The early call for No. 50 is James Kann Cruz or Toulayna. They are the two highest-rated horses entered on EquiRatings Elo, 790 and 779, and both are going for a record-equalling third Major League Grand Prix win.James Kann Cruz was third at Silo Ridge last year and has been on the podium in his last four Major League Grand Prix
- Forty-nine Grand Prix, 39 different winning horses, 29 different winning riders. Thirty-one horses have won exactly once. Kent Farrington and Daniel Bluman, the two riders most associated with the series, account for nine wins between them, fewer than one in five.Only eight horses have won more than once, none more than three times
- Twenty-two Grand Prix in a row were won by 22 different horses, from Richard Vogel's Cepano Baloubet at Monterrey in November 2023 to Nina Mallevaey's My Clementine at Traverse City last month. Corbie V.V. finally ended the run at Greenwich.
- Kent Farrington is the most successful rider in Major League history with five Grand Prix wins on four different horses, and he has stood on the podium in 16 of his 30 starts.Wins: Ottawa 2022, Toronto 2023, Traverse City 2025, Greenwich 2025, Kentucky 2026
- Two horses share the record for most wins: Donatello 141 and Kalinka van't Zorgvliet, three each. Donatello's three came across four seasons; Kalinka's three came inside 12 months.Ashlee Bond / Donatello 141: 2021, 2022, 2024. Karl Cook / Kalinka: Dec 2022, Aug 2023, Dec 2023
- Daniel Bluman has won three of the seven Toronto Grand Prix, on three different horses, and arrives at Silo Ridge as the most recent winner after Greenwich.Ubiluc 2021, Gemma W 2022, Corbie V.V. 2025, then Greenwich 2026
- The USA has won 19 of 49. Ireland is next with nine, Israel seven. Ten nations have won; 36 have started.Canada 4, Brazil 3, Egypt 2, Germany 2, Belgium 1, France 1, Saudi Arabia 1
- Women have won 16 of the 49, including the last two Coachella Cups: Ashlee Bond took the $1m edition in 2024 and Laura Kraut the $750k edition in 2025.Ten different women have won. Lillie Keenan and Ashlee Bond lead with three each
- Every Canadian win has come on Canadian soil. Mac Cone (Toronto 2021), Tiffany Foster (Vancouver 2023, Ottawa 2024) and Erynn Ballard (Vancouver 2024). No Mexican rider has won a Major League Grand Prix in eight attempts at home.
- The closest finish is three hundredths of a second, and it has happened twice. Kent Farrington beat Daniel Bluman by 0.03s at Greenwich 2025; Laura Kraut beat McLain Ward by 0.03s in the Coachella Cup two months later.
- McLain Ward has never won a Major League Grand Prix. Nineteen starts, five podiums, four second places, including two of the last five legs.
- Favourites win about one in five. The top-rated combination on EquiRatings Elo has won 11 of 49. Fourteen winners came from outside the top ten in their field; the biggest surprise was Kent Farrington's nine-year-old Descartes SR at Kentucky 2026, rated 32nd of 42 starters.
- Major League is where good horses become Grand Prix horses. Twenty-four of the 39 winning horses had never won a five-star Grand Prix before their Major League win. James Kann Cruz, Greya and Nikka vd Bisschop all went from a first Major League win to Olympic or championship teams.
- Jordan Coyle and Ariso are the only pair to win back-to-back legs: the La Quinta season finale in December 2021 and the Vancouver season opener five months later.
- Only one horse has won the same Grand Prix twice: James Kann Cruz, American Gold Cup in 2022 and 2024, both with Shane Sweetnam.
Forty-nine Grand Prix in numbers
Where the surprises happen
The feeling that Farrington and Bluman have the series sewn up does not survive contact with the results. Major League Grand Prix are hard to win twice.
The depth shows in the fields too: 282 riders and 580 horses have started a Major League Grand Prix, and 36 nations have been represented. Rene Dittmer and Corsica X, the defending Silo Ridge winners, were rated eighth in their field last year and beat Gregory Wathelet by 0.15 seconds.
How it started
Sunday 18 July 2021, Traverse City, Michigan. Thirty-three combinations started the first Major League Grand Prix. Four made the jump-off and only one of them left all the rails up.
Alex Granato and Carlchen W jumped the only double clear, stopping the clock at 36.87 seconds. Kristen Vanderveen and Bull Run's Risen were second with four faults, Kyle King and Coffee To Go third. Granato and the 13-year-old Carlchen W were also the top-rated pair in the field on EquiRatings Elo, so the series opened with the form horse delivering.
Traverse City hosted again the following week, where Beezie Madden and Breitling LS won from a jump-off of ten. The first season ran to ten Grand Prix across Michigan, Ontario, Mexico and California, and introduced a format that has barely changed since: a team competition, then a Grand Prix at 1.55m or 1.60m.
Who has won the most
Twenty-nine riders have won a Major League Grand Prix. Ten of them have won more than once.
Riders
Kent Farrington's five wins have come at five different venues, and he has also finished second seven times, more than anyone else. Shane Sweetnam has 12 podiums from 32 starts. Karl Cook has earned more Grand Prix winner's prize money than any other rider in the series, helped by the $1.34m Coachella Cup.
Horses
Garant's two wins are the furthest apart in time: Traverse City in August 2022 and La Quinta in December 2025, both with Callie Schott.
Nations and venues
Wins by nation
| United States | 19 |
| Ireland | 9 |
| Israel | 7 |
| Canada | 4 |
| Brazil | 3 |
| Egypt | 2 |
| Germany | 2 |
| Belgium, France, Saudi Arabia | 1 each |
Ireland's nine wins come from six different riders: Jordan Coyle, Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Conor Swail, Darragh Kenny and Paul O'Shea. Israel's seven come from just two, Daniel Bluman and Ashlee Bond.
Grand Prix hosted
| Traverse City (incl. American Gold Cup) | 10 |
| La Quinta Desert (incl. Coachella Cup, Final) | 9 |
| Toronto | 7 |
| Monterrey | 6 |
| Vancouver Thunderbird, Ottawa, Tryon, Greenwich | 3 each |
| San Miguel de Allende | 2 |
| Caledon, Highlands Cup, Kentucky | 1 each |
Traverse City has produced the most winners and the most variety: ten Grand Prix, eight different riders. Toronto is Daniel Bluman's. La Quinta has been Karl Cook country, two of his four wins. Silo Ridge hosts its second Grand Prix this weekend.
Stories worth telling
Twice decided by three hundredths
Greenwich 2025: Kent Farrington and Toulayna 40.64, Daniel Bluman and Corbie V.V. 40.67. Coachella Cup 2025: Laura Kraut and Bisquetta 36.27, McLain Ward and High Star Hero 36.30. Six of the 49 have been settled by a tenth of a second or less.
The toughest course
Monterrey, November 2022. Only two of 32 first-round starters jumped clear. Ashlee Bond and Donatello 141 went clear again in the jump-off; Darragh Kenny had a rail. Nobody else got close.
The oldest winner
VDL Cartello was 17 when he won Monterrey 2024 with Darragh Kenny, by eight hundredths from Emanuele Camilli. Six nine-year-olds have won, the youngest age in the series: Ubiluc, James Kann Cruz, Cepano Baloubet, Toulayna, Gadget Mouche and Descartes SR.
The biggest upset
Kent Farrington's Descartes SR was rated 32nd of 42 on Elo at Kentucky 2026 and beat McLain Ward and Shane Sweetnam in a five-clear jump-off. Jordan Coyle and Ariso (26th of 36, La Quinta 2021) and Nicola Philippaerts and Gadget Mouche (22nd of 42, Tryon 2025) are the other long shots.
The biggest jump-off
Traverse City, August 2025: 15 of 34 jumped clear in round one. Six went double clear and Kent Farrington and Greya were fastest. Four months later Greya won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva.
The weekend double
Five riders have won the team competition and the Grand Prix on the same weekend: Kent Farrington (Ottawa 2022), Bliss Heers (San Miguel 2022), Karl Cook (La Quinta 2022), Daniel Bluman (Toronto 2025) and Shane Sweetnam (Toronto 2026).
Conor Swail, team specialist
Swail has won ten Major League team competitions, more than anyone, but only one Grand Prix: Tryon 2024 with Casturano. He has 13 Grand Prix top-fives from 33 starts.
The ones still waiting
Kaitlin Campbell and Natalie Dean have the most Grand Prix starts without a win, 32 each. Erynn Ballard has the most starts of anyone (40) and one win. McLain Ward: 19 starts, five podiums, no win.
First five-star Grand Prix wins
Twenty-four of the 39 winning horses had never won a five-star Grand Prix before Major League, including James Kann Cruz as a nine-year-old at the 2022 American Gold Cup, Nikka vd Bisschop two months before the Paris Olympics, and Descartes SR this spring.
Back to back
Jordan Coyle and Ariso won the last Grand Prix of 2021 (La Quinta) and the first of 2022 (Vancouver). No other combination has won consecutive legs, and no rider has defended a Grand Prix the following year. Silo Ridge gives Rene Dittmer and Corsica X the chance to be the first.
What the winners did next
Major League form has travelled well. These are the horses whose careers took off after a Major League Grand Prix win.
Caracole de la Roque
Won the 2023 American Gold Cup with Karl Cook in the fastest winning jump-off time in series history, 32.95 seconds. Eleven months later she jumped for the USA at the Paris Olympics and helped win team silver. Since then she has won five-star Grands Prix in Rome, Rotterdam, Falsterbo, St Tropez and a World Cup qualifier in California.
James Kann Cruz
A nine-year-old when he won the 2022 American Gold Cup, his first five-star Grand Prix. He has since jumped two European Championships, the Paris Olympics and the 2026 World Championships in Aachen with Shane Sweetnam, won the Rolex Grand Prix at Falsterbo in 2026, and came back to win the American Gold Cup again in 2024. He has finished on the Major League Grand Prix podium seven times in ten starts.
Greya
Already a La Baule Rolex Grand Prix winner before Traverse City 2025, Greya won the Rolex Grand Prix of Geneva that December and the Hampton Classic Grand Prix this summer.
Donatello 141
Three Major League wins across four seasons book-ended two Olympic Games for Ashlee Bond and Israel, Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, where they finished ninth in the team final.
Season by season
Season boundaries follow the MLSJ schedule page. Two Major League weekends had no Grand Prix (Greenwich 2023 and the 2024 Final at La Quinta), which is why 51 shows produce 49 Grand Prix.
Every winner, 1 to 49
Show names are the Major League names. Starters is the first-round field; jump-off is the number who jumped off.
| No. | Date | Show | Rider | Horse | Age | Starters | Jump-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 Jul 2021 | Traverse City | Alex Granato USA | Carlchen W | 13 | 33 | 4 |
| 2 | 25 Jul 2021 | Traverse City | Beezie Madden USA | Breitling LS | 15 | 33 | 10 |
| 3 | 22 Aug 2021 | Toronto | Daniel Bluman ISR | Ubiluc | 9 | 25 | 11 |
| 4 | 28 Aug 2021 | Toronto | Mac Cone CAN | Zaia di San Giovanni | 12 | 27 | 9 |
| 5 | 18 Sep 2021 | Traverse City | Brianne Goutal-Marteau USA | Viva Colombia | 16 | 29 | 3 |
| 6 | 26 Sep 2021 | Caledon | Santiago Lambre BRA | Easy Girl | 10 | 18 | 5 |
| 7 | 30 Oct 2021 | San Miguel De Allende | Ashlee Bond ISR | Donatello 141 | 10 | 36 | 5 |
| 8 | 14 Nov 2021 | Monterrey | Paul O'Shea IRL | Chancelloress | 12 | 40 | 4 |
| 9 | 05 Dec 2021 | La Quinta Desert | Cassio Rivetti BRA | Alanine de Vains | 11 | 35 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 Dec 2021 | La Quinta Desert | Jordan Coyle IRL | Ariso | 10 | 36 | 9 |
| 11 | 29 May 2022 | Vancouver Thunderbird | Jordan Coyle IRL | Ariso | 11 | 31 | 10 |
| 12 | 06 Aug 2022 | Traverse City | Callie Schott USA | Garant | 11 | 37 | 4 |
| 13 | 20 Aug 2022 | Toronto | Daniel Bluman ISR | Gemma W | 11 | 24 | 7 |
| 14 | 28 Aug 2022 | Ottawa | Kent Farrington USA | Orafina | 10 | 28 | 4 |
| 15 | 18 Sep 2022 | Traverse City - American Gold Cup | Shane Sweetnam IRL | James Kann Cruz | 9 | 31 | 3 |
| 16 | 22 Oct 2022 | San Miguel De Allende | Bliss Heers USA | Antidote de Mars | 12 | 34 | 5 |
| 17 | 05 Nov 2022 | Monterrey | Lillie Keenan USA | Queensland E | 13 | 38 | 3 |
| 18 | 13 Nov 2022 | Monterrey | Ashlee Bond ISR | Donatello 141 | 11 | 32 | 2 |
| 19 | 04 Dec 2022 | La Quinta Desert | Daniel Coyle IRL | Legacy | 12 | 33 | 4 |
| 20 | 10 Dec 2022 | La Quinta Desert | Karl Cook USA | Kalinka van't Zorgvliet | 12 | 29 | 2 |
| 21 | 27 May 2023 | Vancouver Thunderbird | Tiffany Foster CAN | Northern Light | 12 | 33 | 4 |
| 22 | 05 Aug 2023 | Traverse City | Karl Cook USA | Kalinka van't Zorgvliet | 13 | 35 | 5 |
| 23 | 19 Aug 2023 | Toronto | Kent Farrington USA | Toulayna | 9 | 30 | 8 |
| 24 | 27 Aug 2023 | Ottawa | Lillie Keenan USA | Argan de Beliard | 13 | 34 | 9 |
| 25 | 17 Sep 2023 | Traverse City - American Gold Cup | Karl Cook USA | Caracole de la Roque | 11 | 31 | 8 |
| 26 | 14 Oct 2023 | Tryon | Nayel Nassar EGY | Coronado | 14 | 47 | 4 |
| 27 | 12 Nov 2023 | Monterrey | Richard Vogel GER | Cepano Baloubet | 9 | 25 | 5 |
| 28 | 02 Dec 2023 | La Quinta Desert - Coachella Cup | Karl Cook USA | Kalinka van't Zorgvliet | 13 | 35 | 7 |
| 29 | 08 Dec 2023 | La Quinta Desert - Final | Nayel Nassar EGY | Coronado | 14 | 33 | 10 |
| 30 | 26 May 2024 | Vancouver Thunderbird | Erynn Ballard CAN | Nikka vd Bisschop | 11 | 25 | 7 |
| 31 | 17 Aug 2024 | Toronto | Lillie Keenan USA | Kick On | 10 | 33 | 7 |
| 32 | 25 Aug 2024 | Ottawa | Tiffany Foster CAN | Electrique | 10 | 36 | 7 |
| 33 | 22 Sep 2024 | Traverse City - American Gold Cup | Shane Sweetnam IRL | James Kann Cruz | 11 | 34 | 9 |
| 34 | 29 Sep 2024 | Greenwich | Abdulrahman Alrajhi KSA | Ventago | 11 | 45 | 10 |
| 35 | 19 Oct 2024 | Tryon | Conor Swail IRL | Casturano | 11 | 40 | 6 |
| 36 | 03 Nov 2024 | Monterrey | Darragh Kenny IRL | VDL Cartello | 17 | 37 | 6 |
| 37 | 07 Dec 2024 | La Quinta Desert | Ashlee Bond ISR | Donatello 141 | 13 | 40 | 12 |
| 38 | 09 Aug 2025 | Traverse City | Kent Farrington USA | Greya | 11 | 34 | 15 |
| 39 | 23 Aug 2025 | Toronto | Daniel Bluman ISR | Corbie V.V. | 10 | 24 | 8 |
| 40 | 28 Sep 2025 | Greenwich | Kent Farrington USA | Toulayna | 11 | 38 | 8 |
| 41 | 11 Oct 2025 | Highlands Cup | Rene Dittmer GER | Corsica X | 12 | 41 | 12 |
| 42 | 18 Oct 2025 | Tryon | Nicola Philippaerts BEL | Gadget Mouche | 9 | 42 | 12 |
| 43 | 06 Dec 2025 | La Quinta Desert - Coachella Cup | Laura Kraut USA | Bisquetta | 11 | 35 | 11 |
| 44 | 13 Dec 2025 | La Quinta Desert | Callie Schott USA | Garant | 14 | 32 | 7 |
| 45 | 25 Apr 2026 | Kentucky | Kent Farrington USA | Descartes SR | 9 | 42 | 7 |
| 46 | 02 May 2026 | Monterrey | Rodrigo Pessoa BRA | Prins van 't Eigenlo | 11 | 37 | 8 |
| 47 | 05 Sep 2026 | Toronto | Shane Sweetnam IRL | Coriaan van Klapscheut Z | 10 | 27 | 3 |
| 48 | 12 Sep 2026 | Traverse City | Nina Mallevaey FRA | My Clementine | 11 | 29 | 5 |
| 49 | 27 Sep 2026 | Greenwich | Daniel Bluman ISR | Corbie V.V. | 11 | 27 | 6 |