Thirty-eight horses from 18 nations were presented to the Ground Jury of Carsten Andre Soerlie (NOR), Andrew Pollard (GBR), Neil O’Connor (USA), David Distler (USA) and Leslie Brown (USA), with Matts V.G. (Bekzod Kurbanov, Uzbekistan) the only horse sent to the holding box. The gelding was passed upon re-inspection.
Jamie Winning-Kermond and Tulara Wat Colblensky – who have been competing in Florida since the beginning of the year with several strong results – are now preparing for their first round of competition on Thursday.
Tulara Wat Colbensky (known around the stables as ‘Juno’), an 11-year-old mare by Colman out of Tulara Cornetto (Cornet Obolensky), is owned by Rachel Peel and was bred in Australia by the late Mark Fraser and wife Anna.
Julie Davey and LT Holst Freda of New Zealand will also take their place in the field following the trot-up. Julie shared with ESNZ that the mare feels good, however there were some last-minute challenges: “All of our supplements were taken off us in quarantine and being Easter it has been tricky to replace them. I only just got some for Freda today. She’s feeling fit, happy and ready to go, but she has done a lot of travel since January. I guess time will tell!”
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Warm-up opportunity
The jumpers had a familiarisation (flat work) session in the Dickies Arena on Tuesday morning prior to the horse inspection in the afternoon.
A warm-up event is scheduled for 2pm Wednesday CDT ahead of the official draw Wednesday evening. Jamie Winning-Kermond and Tulara Wat Colblensky will be the last combination onto the arena for the warm-up round.
Best of three decides the winner
In a nutshell, the athlete who finishes all three competitions (Final I, II and III) in Fort Worth with the lowest cumulative number of penalties will be crowned the 2026 FEI Jumping World Cup Champion.
FINAL I – 2pm Thursday CDT (5am Friday AEST)
Format: Table C over a Table A course, 3 Seconds added (Article: 658.1.3.2 / 217.2 and 225)
Jump-off: No
Time limit: 120 or 180 seconds depending on the length of the course
Height of obstacles: max. 160 cm
FINAL II – 7pm Friday CDT (10am Saturday AEST)
Format: Table A, against the clock. One round against the clock and one jump-off only against the clock. (Article: 658.1.3.3 / 220.2.1.2)
Jump-off: Yes
Speed: 370 m/min
Height of obstacles: max. 160 cm
After the second competition, points are transformed into penalties. The athlete with the highest number of points after two competitions will have 0 penalties. For all other athletes the number of penalties will be calculated by multiplying with the coefficient of 0.50 the difference between their number of points and the points of the leading athlete after two competitions. In this procedure all decimals are rounded down.
The 30 best-placed athletes (plus those tied in the 30th place) from the provisional classification following the second competition are allowed to compete in the first round of the third competition. Qualified athletes unable to start will not be replaced.
FINAL III – Round A: 12pm Sunday CDT (3am Monday AEST) – Round B: 3pm Sunday CDT (6am Monday AEST)
Format: Table A, two rounds not against the clock. The two rounds are approximately equal in the number of obstacles and length of the course, the second round having an increased level of difficulty. There will be no jump-off for the first place in the 3rd Final competition. (Article 658.1.3.5)
Jump-off: No
Speed: 370 m/min
Height of obstacles: max. 160 cm
The 20 best-placed athletes (plus ties) from the provisional classification following Round A are allowed to start in Round B of the third competition.
Athletes with a clear score in the first round are allowed to start in the second round, even if their total score does not bring them into the top 20 Athletes (plus ties) allowed for the second round. However, they will compete only for the classification and prize money of the third competition itself, and their score in the second round will not be taken into consideration when calculating their position in the final overall ranking of the FEI World Cup Final.
The starting order in Rounds A and B of the third competition is, respectively, according to the reverse order of penalties after the second competition, and after Round A of the third competition.
The overall winner will be the athlete with the lowest number of penalties after the three competitions.
If athletes are tied for first place after the three competitions, there will be a jump-off against the clock over a reduced course of at least six obstacles. In case of equality of penalties and time in this jump-off, a second jump-off against the clock will be held over the same course.
Athletes not in the jump-off but tying on penalties will be separated for the purpose of the FEI Jumping World Cup Final overall classification by their time in the second round of the third competition.
While there are 38 horses, there are actually only 35 riders. Three riders (Brazil’s Yuri Mansur and both Skylar Wireman and Kent Farrington of the USA) have two horses. Riders are permitted to compete with two horses throughout the event, but may only enter one horse per competition. This gives the advantage of keeping a horse fresh – but it does reduce experience and exposure around the Dickies Arena.
Australian vets in Fort Worth
In addition to the two Australian athletes competing, there are also two Australians working as Official Veterinarians at the FEI World Cup Finals: Kirsten Neil and Christopher Elliott.
Watch all the action from Fort Worth live and on-demand with ClipMyHorse.TV.
