April 8, 2026 
Ah, spring. Purple crocuses and yellow daffodils rear their delicate, flowery heads. Rain showers come and go, while mud-covered horses loll in the back field.
It may be the ficklest season of the year, but there’s one thing that’s always worth looking forward to in springtime: the return of Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Finals!
This year’s event returns to the States April 8-12 in the “City of Cowboys and Culture”, Fort Worth, Texas. And despite some last-minute shake-ups, the startlist is as exciting as ever, with 35 entries from 18 nations around the globe slated to test their luck.
It’s a competition that requires rideability, scope, and above all, stamina—taking place over a (potential) four, challenging jumping rounds spread across four days of competition.
Although the 2025 FEI Jumping World Cup™ Finals winner and current World No. 8 Julien Epaillard (FRA) announced that he will not return to contest back-to-back championships, three other athletes from the Longines Rankings Top 10 will fill out the start list: Kent Farrington (USA), Richard Vogel (GER), and Laura Kraut (USA).
And despite the recent news that 2017 winner McLain Ward is out with a minor injury, his student Lillie Keenan—returning with Kick On after a successful debut appearance in 2025—looks ready to fill his shoes.
So bring on the popcorn! Whoever you’re rooting for, there are plenty of top seeds, wild cards, and first timers in this year’s field to ensure the thrills will keep on comin.’
Top Seeds
When it comes to proven entities, the current No. 2 in the world Kent Farrington and his longtime partners—the Zangersheide mare Toulayna and the OS mare Greya, both 12, are the ones to beat. The duo last contested this event with Farrington back in 2024, finishing fourth, and they have a strong record at this level: Toulayna jumps clear at 60% in 30 career rounds at 1.60m+ according to Jumpr Stats, while Greya earns clears 57% of the time in 37 rounds at the same height.
Having never won this particular championship before, you can bet the always-hungry Farrington has the World Cup trophy in his sights. But he’s likely to meet opposition from a host of already-proven entities including Daniel Deusser (GER), who won this event in 2014. Deusser brings forward Otello de Guldenboom, a 12-year-old Belgian stallion with whom he took home two, 5* Grands Prix in 2025.
Ditto for the Swiss show jumping titans Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs, experienced Finals winners who each bring forward new mounts to this championship in 2026. Fuchs, who won back in 2022, will saddle the 11-year-old gelding, Lorde, who currently jumps clear at 1.60m+ 33% of the time.
But its Guerdat who stands a chance of making history, becoming the first athlete ever to take this title for a fourth time with Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte (36% clear rate at 1.60m+) having won previously in 2015, 2016, and 2019. The pair is off to a good start, being one of only two combinations to win two qualifiers this season in Leipzig and Helsinki.
Wild Cards
It is hard to imagine calling the reigning European Champion and World No. 3 Richard Vogel (GER) a ‘wild card’—nor the indomitable force in the Western European League standings and three-time qualifier winner, Willem Greve (NED). Although both men will saddle 10- and 11-year-old first-time World Cup Finals mounts, respectively, both combinations look to have what it takes be victorious in this particular championship.
Vogel will make his third Finals appearance aboard the uber-talented 10-year-old Selle Français stallion, Gangster Montdesir. So far in six rounds at 1.60m+, the pair have been foot-perfect, jumping clear 100% of the time—meaning 2026 FEI jumping World Cup Finals could very well be Gangster’s first major heist.
Standing in his way: the winningest rider of the 2025/2026 season, Willem Greve and Pretty Woman van’t Paradijs N.O.P. The Belgian mare was the Dutchman’s choice as a 10-year-old for the 2025 European Championships and has won two qualifier legs this season in Stuttgart and La Coruña (Greve won a third in Göteborg with Grandorado TN N.O.P.). Greve and Pretty Woman jump clear at 35% in 20 career rounds at 1.60m.
Not to be forgotten: the North American League winner Conor Swail (IRL) and Casturano, who took home the FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in Toronto in November and currently jump clear at a considerable 52% in 29 rounds at 1.60m. And, of course, there’s three-time Olympic medalist Laura Kraut, who hasn’t competed a World Cup Final in nearly a decade, but has said many times that she’s currently sitting on the best string of horses of her career.
Among them is the still-up-and-coming 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding, Tres Bien Z, who won his first 5* Grand Prix in the World Cup qualifier at the Washington Horse Show and maintains a 57% clear rate in 7 rounds at 1.60+.
Rookies To Watch
If there’s such a thing as ‘World Cup Finals’ genes, Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen (NOR), 29, hails from some of the best. His father, Geir Gulliksen, was a five-time competitor in this event. This year, it will be Johan-Sebastian’s turn aboard the 14-year-old KWPN gelding Equine America Harwich VDL.
The pair punched their ticket thanks to two qualifier podium finishes in Oslo and Basel, winding up fifth in the competitive Western European League standings. Together they jump clear 33% of the time in 49 rounds at 1.60m+.
The USA’s Mimi Gochman, 22, will also make her first appearance after a successful qualifier season, including a career-high win in the FEI World Cup qualifier in Ocala in February with Iron Maiden. She and her choice for this championship—the 11-year-old Inclen BH—jump clear at 29% in 21 rounds at 1.60m+.
Ireland’s red-hot Jessica Burke and Good Star du Barry also took a win this season in the FEI World Cup qualifier in Bordeaux, finishing 11th overall in the Western European League standings. The 30-year-old rider will make her first Finals appearance this season alongside another promising newbie: Japan’s Eiken Sato.
The son of a Buddhist monk who was raised on the temple grounds, Sato famously left for Europe at age 18 to pursue show jumping—despite not speaking a word of English. The now-40-year-old rider will bring forward the 15-year-old OS gelding Chadellano Jra—a horse he jumps clear with at 60% in five rounds at 1.60m+ (Jumpr Stats).
So who will take home this year’s top honor? Tune in for the first round of competition this Thursday, April 9th at 1:30 p.m. local time to find out!
