Richard Vogel Wins the Opening Jumping Competition at the CSIO5* Spruce Meadows on a Young Horse

The opening jumping competition of the Spruce Meadows Masters weekend (CSIO5*) was a 1.50-meter speed jumping competition in which world No. 1 Richard Vogel presented the eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding Chember, a son of the former champion stallion Charleston, whom Vogel has been riding since the middle of the year.

The bay is still officially owned by his breeder, Lutz Dechau. He was a finalist in the 2024 National Championship for six-year-old show jumpers, riding with Marieke Reimers at the time.

He has been part of the VW Equestrian team since 2025. He first competed in one tournament with Sophie Hinners, then in a handful of events under David Will, before Chember traveled to Mexico to be ridden there by the Mexican Federico Fernandez in the spring of 2026.

It wasn’t until the TSCHIO Aachen in May that both horse and rider returned to Germany, competing in the first qualifier of the Youngster Tour—but not in any subsequent events. In La Baule, Richard Vogel took the reins for the first time and promptly introduced Chember to his first 1.50-meter show jumping competition—scoring four penalty points each time. In Dublin, Chember had his first clear round and placed. Yesterday, they secured their first victory.

Winners and Top Finishers

As the 14th pair in the competition, Vogel and Chember took the lead with a clear round in 62.83 seconds, a lead they held until the very end. The pair in second place, Martin Fuchs (SUI) riding the 10-year-old For Pleasure son Falcon de Toultia Z (64.58), was nearly two seconds slower. Third place went to Sameh El Dayan of Egypt, riding the 16-year-old Irish mare Aimez Moi by Je T’Aime Flamenco (64.79).

Jörne Sprehe and Hickstead White also made it into the top ten with a clear round and the ninth-fastest time. André Thieme and DSP Chakaria also finished without any penalty points, though they took a bit more time.

Time faults, but no jumping faults

Daniel Deußer introduced a new addition to his stable: the 12-year-old Belgian gelding Inoui Du Seigneur by Jenson van’t Meulenhof. Under Rik Hemeryck, the gelding had already competed in World Cup show jumping. Daniel Deußer rode him for the first time last weekend in Brussels, though they didn’t place. They didn’t place this time either, but the pair completed the course without any faults over the jumps. The four penalty points they incurred were for exceeding the time limit.

The same thing happened to Deußer’s newly crowned world team champion teammate, Sophie Hinners, and her European Championship partner, My Prins. Christian Kukuk and Checker even racked up eight time penalty points as they, too, used the round to get a feel for the tasks ahead by taking the long routes.

Deußer Finishes Second and Seventh in the Day’s Highlight

In the afternoon, things really got underway at Spruce Meadows: a 1.55-meter jumping competition with a jump-off was on the program. Daniel Deußer had saddled two horses for this event: his World Championship partner Otello de Guldenboom and the spirited chestnut mare Pepita van’t Meulenhof.

Course designer Leopoldo Palacios hadn’t made it too difficult for the competitors, however. Twenty-one pairs advanced to the jump-off—nearly half of the 55 starters. Daniel Deußer was among them with both of his horses; he rode both to a second clear round and, with Pepita, was also the second-fastest rider behind Ireland’s Daniel Coyle on the Hanoverian Calippo (by Casallco) and ahead of McLain Ward (USA) riding his World Championship partner High Star Hero.

Otello finished seventh. Also from Germany, Sophie Hinners had advanced to the second round on her World Championship horse Singclair, but had a knockdown there. Jörne Sprehe and Hot Easy finished second in the jump-off. Riding her second horse, Badenia winner Toys, she had one knockdown in the first round.

You can find all the results here.