If I had asked you to guess on Sunday morning which U.S. competitor would be second in the world’s richest grand prix at the Spruce Meadows Masters during the afternoon, you might have guessed Lillie Keenan, who has been rolling out double-clear trips in Nations Cups this season, or Aaron Vale, winner of two grands prix last spring.
The odds are you wouldn’t have mentioned Kyle King, a 50-year-old journeyman rider who is number 144 on the Longines ranking list.
But he made a big statement in the $5 million (Canadian) CPKC International in Calgary, Canada, with a 10-year-old Zangersheide, Kayenne Z, a mare he has been riding for just seven months who also was second in the Queen Elizabeth Cup earlier this summer during Spruce Meadows’ golden anniversary year.
Kyle finished the incredibly testing CPKC class as runner-up to Great Britain’s Scott Brash, the only person ever to have won the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping.
Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson on their way to victory. (© Spruce Meadows Media/Bart Onyszko)
It was also Scott’s third victory in the grand prix presented by Rolex, which was not just the richest class of 2025, but the most valuable ever held in the sport. The purse, $3.6 million in U.S. dollars, was worth $1,192,000 (U.S.) for the victor, who said he was “shocked and surprised and delighted” at his triumph aboard Hello Jefferson.
“I’m absolutely delighted for my horse. More than anything, he deserves a title under his belt,” said Scott.
“He’s been such a good horse for so many years and we’ve had ups and downs, but he has been a fantastic horse. So I think it’s great finally being able to get a title under his name.”
Leopoldo Palacios, the perennial course designer for the class, headed a team that put together one of the most challenging routes seen anywhere.
“You never know what this man’s going to build,” Scott observed.
“I was kind of in shock all the way around when I walked it,” Kyle said.
Laura Kraut, who had been double clear in the Nations Cup Friday aboard Tres Bien Z to help the U.S. to third place, decided after walking the grand prix course not to compete on the still-developing 10-year-old mare because she “didn’t want to bite off more than she could chew with a super horse,” according to U.S. Coach Robert Ridland.
Evidence of the difficulty quotient was the fact that the glittering field of 36 riders did not include anyone who was fault-free in all three rounds. After the top 12 from the original group of starters competed in the second round, the two best — Scott and Kyle — were tied for the lead on 4 penalties each, with the tight time allowed in both rounds having been a huge factor in that result. Even Leopoldo was surprised that he had no double clears for a tie-breaker, but he acknowledged he knew it might have to happen at some point in his career.
The two leaders jumped off over a new course of seven fences, with a time allowed of 48 seconds. Scott was fault-free in 46.97 seconds, so Kyle knew he not only had to go clear, but also beat the time of a gold medal Olympian who had already won the class twice in his career.
Kyle King and Kayenne Z on their way to the victory ceremony.(© Spruce Meadows Media/Tony Lewis)
It was all going according to plan when Kayenne ticked the jump composed of planks that formed a Canadian flag, and Kyle was penalized for the knockdown. He finished faster than Scott in 46.09 seconds, so his plan almost worked — except for the 4-fault toll it took.
Kyle and Kayenne at the infamous Canadian flag plank jump.
“The mare’s pretty green. I don’t have much control up there,” said Kyle.
“I would do it the same again. I thought I had it just right and I thought the planks showed up probably better than anything else. When I heard them fall I was like `Oh.’ I was surprised that I actually still did beat his (Scott’s) time. I’m just getting to know that mare, she is actually fairly quick. She covers the ground really well. I’m really proud of the way it all worked out,” he emphasized.
“This has always been one of my biggest dreams…to win this grand prix. To be that close was incredible.”
Third place went to Olympic multi-medalist Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, who made it through the difficult double of liverpools in the second round, only to have a rail at the iconic Dutch bicycle fence (as did Kyle and four others). Just a time fault with Venard de Cerisy kept him out of the jump-off. His countryman, Martin Fuchs, was not as lucky aboard Leone Jei, however.
The defending champion in the class, Martin was embarking on the Rolex Grand Slam trail after winning the Rolex grand prix at Aachen in July. To win the Grand Slam, a rider must take three of the four competitions (the others are the Dutch Masters and Geneva) in a row. But Martin’s quest ended at the first fence in the second round, when his grey gelding took off a stride early and tumbled to the ground. Both horse and rider walked away from the accident.
Coach Robert Ridland has known Kyle a long time around the California circuit.
He said Kyle has never been on one of his teams, but noted, “he’s a terrific rider, always has been.” However, he mentioned Kyle never had a horse who was “a legitimate contender.”
Now that he has a horse who is “the real deal,” Robert commented, “I can’t wait to have him on a team He would be a huge asset.”
But Robert better move fast.
Kyle, who has been coming to Calgary his whole life, rides out of Rocky Mountain Sport Horses south of Calgary.
“I’m a permanent resident now of Canada and pretty close to getting my citizenship and possibly riding for Canada. I’m in the works of doing that at the moment. And then I had the Canadian planks down,” he said ruefully.
Kyle King was overjoyed with his finish in the world’s richest grand prix.
“Canada and Spruce Meadows is my one way to ride against this caliber of people in my life. I’ve never shown in Europe. But Europe comes to Calgary once a year and I feel a special connection to Spruce Meadows. I thought I was going to win it today. I thought destiny was going to happen. But to me it was a win, so I’ll take it.”
Click here for results (the time for the jump-off is not in the results, but it is in the story above)
