Stand by for the Strongest Ever Wellington Grand Prix?
With EquiRatings ELO projecting record-breaking field strength if the biggest names make Saturday night, the Rolex US Equestrian Open Final might just see the final break its own record.
When the Rolex US Equestrian Open Jumping Final lights up the International Arena on Saturday night, fans are likely to be watching the most powerful Grand Prix fields ever assembled at Wellington International and one of the best 20 rated fields of the last 15 years.
EquiRatings’ ELO model rates every horse based on how it performs round‑by‑round against the quality of opposition, updating after every result. In simple terms, the higher the ELO, the more consistently that horse is beating strong fields; horses in the 770+ range are operating right at the top of the sport.
To measure the quality of a Grand Prix line‑up, EquiRatings uses a field‑strength rating: the average current ELO of the top 25 horses on the start list.
Every big name that makes it through Thursday and Friday’s qualifiers can move that field‑strength number significantly.
When Checker 47 and Christian Kukuk claimed the Rolex US Equestrian Open Jumping Final last year, they did it against what was—at the time—the strongest Grand Prix field Wellington had ever seen, with a field‑strength rating of 730.
That number was boosted by the presence of King Edward, the highest rated horse in the world at the time. He hasn’t jumped at the top level since that weekend last year.
This year, though, the story is about depth rather than a single outlier: qualifier‑dependent, the 2026 line‑up is on track to deliver the strongest top‑25 Wellington has ever seen, and potentially the highest‑rated Grand Prix field in the venue’s history.
Last year’s field was rated 730, a WEF record. The best 25 horses on this year’s long list currently averages closer to 748, a difference that comes from the sheer number of horses clustered in that high‑760/770 band.
On current ratings, if the strongest combinations make it into Saturday night’s final, the projected field‑strength average for the top 25 could land in the 735–745 range.
Those numbers matter in a global context. Since 2010, the 2024 Geneva Grand Prix (field‑strength 759) and the 2025 Dutch Masters (754) are the top fields. If we see a rating above 730 on Saturday, we will be watching the best ever here. If it clears 740, it would sit inside the top ten strongest rated Grand Prix fields anywhere in the world since 2010; even a rating of 735+ would secure a place inside the all‑time top twenty.
Whatever the final number, the 2026 Rolex US Equestrian Open Jumping Final is on track to be both one of the best ever Wellington fields and one of the highest‑rated Grand Prix classes anywhere in the world.
