Another impressive field of 56 horse-and-rider combinations – representing no fewer than 18 nations – took to Spruce Meadows’ iconic International Ring for the second feature class of the day, the prestigious 2025 CANA Cup. Among them were three of the world’s current top 10 riders: Britain’s Ben Maher, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, and Germany’s in-form sensation Richard Vogel.

Despite the large starting line-up, only seven riders managed to master the demanding Leopoldo Palacios-designed course and produce a clear first round, earning a place in the jump-off. The final contenders included Belgium’s Philippaerts brothers, Thibault and Olivier; Austria’s Max Kühner and Markus Saurugg; Brazil’s Yuri Mansur; and the German duo of Richard Vogel and Jörne Sprehe.

Four of the seven combinations delivered double clears, but it was world number four Richard Vogel who clinched victory aboard his grey stallion Cloudio. The German rider produced a lightning-fast round to edge out compatriot Jörne Sprehe by just 0.77 seconds.

Reflecting on the confidence boost his CANA Cup victory gives him ahead of Sunday’s CPKC ‘International’, presented by Rolex, Vogel said: “I mentioned it yesterday that I think our sport is very mental, so to have a lot of confidence is always good, and to have the feeling that things are going right for you, and things are lining up well.

“All my horses jump very well here, they really love this show, and so do I. I’m thrilled with Phenyo [Van Het Keysersbos] and Cloudio about their performances yesterday and today. I also had United Touch out in the ring this morning and he jumped very good. We had a couple of time faults, but I was very happy with the way he jumped, and he feels good. Hopefully we’re going to have a good shot on Sunday.”