As with each of the four Majors that comprise the Rolex Grand Slam – The Dutch Masters; CHIO Aachen; CSIO Spruce Meadows 'Masters'; and CHI Geneva – this year’s edition of The Dutch Masters will peak on the Sunday afternoon with the Rolex Grand Prix, with elite riders – including 15 out of the current world top 20 – battling it out to become the new Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping live contender.
The Dutch Masters 2021 has attracted no fewer than six Rolex Testimonees, including British show jumper, Scott Brash, who remains the first and only rider to have ever won three consecutive Majors, thereby claiming the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping title in September 2015. Brash has spent 2021 competing in the Qatari capital, Doha, and in Lier in northern Belgium, and comes to The Dutch Masters hoping to reclaim live contender status.
Joining Brash is fellow Rolex Testimonee and current world number one-ranked rider, Steve Guerdat. Guerdat has a stellar record at Rolex Majors, having triumphed in the Rolex Grand Prix at CHI Geneva in both 2013 and 2015, and the Swiss show jumper will be aiming to add The Dutch Masters Major crown to his enviable list of titles.As a result of winning the Rolex Grand Prix at CHI Geneva in December 2019, current world number three-ranked rider and Rolex Testimonee, Martin Fuchs comes to The Dutch Masters, as the live Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping contender. The Swiss rider has spent the most part of 2021 at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida, USA, with his grey geldings, Clooney 51 and Leone Jei, and will do whatever it takes to ensure he remains live contender going into the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ in September.
2014 FEI World Equestrian Games™ Individual gold medalist and home favourite, Jeroen Dubbeldam travels to The Dutch Masters with Forever SFN, Kennedy Z, and Oak Grove’s Carlyle. While a Major win eludes Dubbeldam, the Dutch Rolex Testimonee will have his sights firmly set on a big result in Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix. Dubbeldam makes up a string of 11 entries for the Netherlands, including Bart Bles, Kim Emmen, Willem Grieve, Marc Houtzager, Kevin Jockems, Johnny Pals, former world number one-ranked rider, Harrie Smolders, Leopold van Asten and Jur Vrieling.
Rolex Testimonee, Kent Farrington and compatriot Laura Kraut are the sole representatives from the USA at this year’s Dutch Masters. A two-time Major winner (CHI Geneva 2017 and CHIO Aachen 2019), Farrington travels to ‘s-Hertogenbosch with his gelding Creedance and mare Austria 2, and the current world number seven-ranked rider has the necessary experience and aptitude to be confident that he will very much be in the mix in the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday.
France is represented by four world-class show jumpers, including 41-year-old Rolex Testimonee, Kevin Staut. Winner of the individual title at the 2009 European Championships and currently ranked 21st in the world, Staut brings Blackonda, Viking d'la Rousserie, and Athos des Genets to The Dutch Masters, and will be hoping to add a Major title to his impressive list of career accolades.
Other riders to watch at this year’s Dutch Masters include Belgian show jumper, Niels Bruynseels and Swedish rider, Henrik Von Eckermann, who sit 11th and 17th respectively in the current jumping rankings. Von Eckermann is a previous live contender after winning the Rolex Grand Prix at The Dutch Masters in 2019 with his brilliant 15-year-old mare, Toveks Mary Lou, while Bruynseels won the feature class a year earlier in a thrilling jump-off with his 15-year-old mare, Gancia de Muze.
A young rider to note is 19-year-old Briton, Jack Whitaker, another product of the Whitaker show jumping dynasty, and the next generation of show jumping talent. Whitaker comes to The Dutch Masters having spent the last few months in Vejer de la Frontera in Spain and Vilamoura in Portugal.