Who are the winners of the World Cup Final?

The World Cup Final is fast approaching. The qualified riders from all five continents will meet from 6 to 10 April in Leipzig, Germany. Although a number of qualifications had been cancelled, mainly due to health restrictions, this year the final will take place after an absence of 2 years! Hippomundo went back in time and wanted to know more about the winners of these finals, where they and their horses came from and who marked the history of this hotly contested final.

More than 40 years of World Cup Finals

The first World Cup Final took place in 1979 in Gothenburg, Sweden, and has been held there for 41 years without interruption until 2019. Hugo Simon, Ian Millar, John Whitaker, Nick Skelton, Rodrigo Pessoa and more recently Marcus Ehning, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum and Steve Guerdat have all made their mark on the World Cup Final.

The United States, the most successful country in this final.

If we compare the number of victories per country, we can see that the United States is far ahead with 11 victories by 9 different riders, ahead of Germany with 10 victories by 6 different riders (Ludger Beerbaum, Otto Becker, Marcus Ehning, Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, Christian Ahlmann, Daniel Deusser). The victories of the American riders were mainly concentrated in the 80's with 4 consecutive victories from 1980 to 1983 (Conrad Homfeld, Michael Matz, Melanie Smith, Norman Dello Joio) and another series of 3 victories from 1985 to 1987 (Conrad Homfeld, Leslie Howard Katharine Burdsall).

The German riders were mainly winners in the 2000s.

Hanoverian studbook dominates

With eight horses winning the final, the Hannoverian Studbook is leading the ranking just ahead of the Selle Français Studbook with five horses and the KWPN Studbook (four horses).

The Hannoverian studbook was able to count on the victories of Gladstone (1979), Aramis (1984), The Natural (1987), Genius (1992), Ratina Z (1933), Dollar Girl (1995) and ET FRH (1996 and 1997). I Love You (1983), Baloubet du Rouet (1998, 1999, 2000), Dileme de Cephe (2004), Idéo du Thot (2007) have honoured the Selle Français studbook. Finally, the KWPN was highlighted by the victories of Calypso (1982), Tinka's Boy (2001), Plot Blue (2010), Simon (2013).

These legendary combinations who have made history at the World Cup Final

Several combinations did not just win the final once, but several times and sometimes even several years in a row. Do you remember them?

The couple that will undoubtedly have marked this World Cup Final is the one formed by Rodrigo Pessoa and the Selle Français stallion, Baloubet du Rouet. They won this World Cup Final 3 times ... consecutively in 1998, 1999 and 2000! Another legendary couple to have made their mark 3 times in the world cup final: the German Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and the Hannoverian Shutterfly in 2005, 2008, 2009.

Amongst the couples who have managed the double are Canadian rider Ian Millar and Big Ben (1988, 1989) or John Whitaker (GBR) and the legendary Milton (1990 and 1991),

Three riders with a historic hattrick

The Austrian Hugo Simon has also won this final three times with two different horses: Gladstone in the first edition of this final in 1979 and E.T FRH in 1996 and 1997. German Marcus Ehning has won this final in three different editions: in 2003 with Anka 191 (Old), in 2006 with Sandro Boy (Old) and in 2010 with Plot Blue (KWPN) who was accompanied by Noltes Kuchengirl in this victory.

More recently, Steve Guerdat (SUI), the last winner of this final in 2019, has also won this final three times with Albfuehren's Paille (2015), Corbinian (2016) and Alamo (2009).

Double victory for 2 riders.

Some riders are (or have been) just one win away from the triple: Conrad Homfeld with Balbuco (TB) in 1980 and Abdullah (Trak) in 1985; Beezie Madden with Simon (KWPN) in 2013 and Breitling LS (SLS) in 2018.

Although the final list of riders competing in this final has not yet been released, there is bound to be some good sport and some riders will be looking to add a double or triple to their record of achievements. See you from 6 to 10 April in Leipzig for the final!