It is a prestigious event in terms of both competitive context and technical importance, with the world's top ten pairs competing. It is a challenge that only the best can enter, and one that everyone aspires to participate in. Competing in the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final means having had an extraordinary season, and taking on the challenge of determining who is the best of the best. 

At the beginning of November, the International Jumping Riders Club made the list of participants official when the FEI released the updated Jumping Ranking List. This includes the names of the ten riders (in reverse order): Steve Guerdat (SUI), Julien Epaillard (FRA), Daniel Coyle (IRL), Harrie Smolders (NED), Richard Vogel (GER), Gilles Thomas (BEL), Christian Kukuk (GER), Ben Maher (GBR), Scott Brash (GBR) and Kent Farrington (USA).  

The rider who completes the two courses, with obstacles up to 1.60 metres high, with the fewest penalties and the best time, will lift the large silver cup, on the base of which the names of the winning pairs are engraved.  

"The competition format is the same as it was in the inaugural edition twenty-four years ago" - explains Eleonora Ottaviani, director of the IJRC, who launched the event in 2001 with Cayetano Martinez de Irujo, then president of the club. - Ludo Philippaerts and Franke Sloothaak took second and third place respectively behind the winner, Ludger Beerbaum. "What strikes me is that this contest, conceived two decades ago with a pioneering and, more than anything, TV-friendly format, remains up-to-date today. This is proved by the riders' enthusiasm and the care with which they choose their horses".

Looking back at the history of the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final from 2001 to the present day, we find that only one rider has achieved the ‘triplete’: Steve Guerdat, much to the delight of the home crowd, having won three times (on Venard de Cerisy in 2023, Jalisca Solier in 2010 and Alamo in 2018). 

"2025 was a year that really put me to the test and forced me to view the competitive season in a very different light,"  comments Steve Guerdat, who twice had to interrupt his competition schedule for treatment following surgery for a herniated disc. "After last season, I consider it a real success to be competing in the Rolex IJRC Top Ten again this year. That makes me really happy». 

Four riders topped the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final twice: Ludger Beerbaum, Rodrigo Pessoa, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Kent Farrington.  

This year, eight nations will be represented by their respective riders: the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, France and Switzerland. 

Germany and Great Britain will each field two riders, creating a duel within the duel. 

CLICK HERE for the Roll of Honour of the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final.  

All updates and insights to follow the run-up to the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final 2025 are published on the IJRC's social media channels and official website, where the competition will be streamed live.