Austria’s Max Kühner and EIC Up Too Jacco Blue claimed victory in the opening leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League 2026/2027, delivering a decisive performance at Agria Oslo Horse Show in Norway on Sunday, 11 October.
The pair stopped the clock in 40.52 seconds in the jump-off, finishing ahead of the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders and Monaco, who recorded a clear round in 41.51 seconds. Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs completed the podium with Fortjump du Beaumenil in 41.53 seconds.
Forty horse-and-rider combinations started the competition, with nine advancing to the jump-off after clearing the opening round. With six combinations subsequently producing clear rounds against the clock, speed proved decisive in determining the winner.
Smolders set an early benchmark, producing a faultless jump-off aboard the 17-year-old Monaco. Kühner, however, found the pace required to take the lead, gaining almost a full second over the Dutch combination.
The Austrian credited his long-standing partnership with EIC Up Too Jacco Blue for the result, explaining that he adjusted his stride in the longer distances before recovering time through the turns.
The victory provided Kühner with an ideal start to the Western European League campaign and strengthened his early position in the race to qualify for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, in March 2027.
Following the opening qualifier, Kühner leads the Western European League standings with 20 points. Smolders follows on 17 points, with Fuchs third on 15.
Germany’s Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann sits fourth on 13 points, while Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann and Belgium’s Mathieu Bourdeaud’Hui share fifth place on 12 points.
The Western European League continues in Lyon, France, from 27 October to 1 November, where competitors will have another opportunity to collect valuable points towards qualification for the Final.
With the first leg concluded in Oslo, the 2026/2027 campaign is underway, and the battle for places in Gothenburg begins to take shape.
