November 18, 2024 
Another weekend, another major victory for Richard Vogel and United Touch S.
Fresh off their win in the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Lyon, France on November 3, the German pair went two for two this weekend, pocketing the qualifier at the Stuttgart German Masters on Saturday, November 17.
It’s an event that Vogel considers his “home show” and a win that took on special significance, as United Touch’s owner/breeder Julius-Peter Sinnack was there looking on. In Stuttgart, the pair bested 40 combinations on Course Designer Christa Jung’s challenging track, with only Vogel and United Touch S, Denis Lynch (IRL) and Brooklyn Heights, and Kevin Staut (FRA) and Dialou Blue PS punching their ticket to the second round.
“It was more challenging than expected,” Vogel told the FEI of the course and its tight, 75-second time allowed. “It rode more difficult than it walked. It was very technical, and the triple combination—two verticals followed by an oxer—was especially challenging. But the three athletes who made it to the jump-off proved it was possible to do the course in the time allowed.”
Of those three, Vogel and United Touch completed the jump-off on a dominant time of 41.39, nearly three seconds faster than second-place finisher Lynch and Brooklyn Heights. (Staut pulled a rail and took third.)
With this victory, Vogel takes home an additional 20 points toward the Longines FEI Jumping Western European League 2024/25 standings, moving him into second place on 42 points ahead of the Finals in Basel/St. Jakobshalle (April 2-6, 2025).
But a back-to-back victory like this one, on a course this challenging, has bigger implications than just coveted points toward the World Cup Final. The question that’s worth asking about the 12-year-old Westphalian stallion is, just how good is he?
To answer it, we need the G.O.A.T.
That would be the best horse in a quarter century, King Edward. And despite the fact that these two horses are quite dissimilar in type (think: United Touch’s sleek and strong Range Rover to King Edward’s compact, zippy Ferrari) they are notably alike in their exceptionalism.
Two years ago, for instance, during the now-14-year King Edward’s 12-year-old season, he earned four, *5 1.60m grand prix wins and more than €1,707,000 in total prize money. That’s not unlike United Touch S, who has five, *5 grand prix wins to his name and more than €1,481,000 in career earnings. United Touch has the edge in wins, while King Edward takes it for total prize money (Jumpr Stats).
What’s more: When it comes to their 12-year-old stats, the pair are virtually in a dead-heat.
During King Edward’s 12-year-old season in 2022, in fact, von Eckermann and the BWP gelding were clear at 70% in 23 rounds at 1.60m+, finishing in the top 10 in 20 rounds at the same height at 80%. By contrast, this year, United Touch S has jumped 16 rounds at 1.60m+ with a 62% clear rate, landing in the top 10 in 14 rounds at that height at 86%. In other words, nearly the exact inverse.
United Touch S may not have yet have the championship accolades in King Edward’s trophy case, beginning with his first team gold Olympic medal at age 11. But according to the numbers, the German stallion shows all the promise of one day being able to replicate them. And while neither horse and rider combination had the 2024 Olympic Games they’d hoped for, it only means the rest of us will get to enjoy future showdowns between these two titans of the sport whenever they’re lucky enough to occur.
With Vogel all but assured a berth in the 2025 Finals—and von Eckermann guaranteed one thanks to his and King Edward’s 2024 win—FEI World Cup Finals might just be that next, championship stage on which to watch them.
