THE 151st Gallagher Dublin Horse Show is an historic and unique event in Dublin’s city centre but there are also plenty of firsts in this milestone year. It is the 100th anniversary of the best team competition in the land – the Aga Khan Nations Cup which has a new sponsor in the Elliott Group for 2026.

Elliott is also behind the construction of the new €52 million Anglesea Stand which will be officially unveiled on the first day of the show next Wednesday, August 5th at the Laya Arena. Another first is the exceptional €1 million prize fund for the Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday evening.

Returning to the show for the first time in her official role as Irish chef d’equipe is Jessica Kürten who was appointed to the job last December. Jessica is no stranger to success in Dublin – she is a two-time winner of the Aga Khan (2000 and 2004) and she lifted the Grand Prix trophy in 2008 with the special mare Castleforbes Libertina.

Kürten will be among the Irish riders who have won the Aga Khan to be invited into the arena for a special celebration and alongside her will be Cian O’Connor whom she has selected to be part of this year’s squad. O’Connor is in line to jump in the competition a remarkable 20th time.

Kürten has also given a call up to USA-based Derry brothers Jordan and Daniel Coyle, Co Cork’s world number five Shane Sweetnam who is on the crest of a wave after his CSIO5* Grand Prix win in Falsterbo, and Tipperary’s Trevor Breen who is set to make his Aga Khan debut. Breen will hope to partner his home-bred gelding Highland President who has jumped two cups at this level in 2026 and has produced one clear in each. They were the standout pair of 2025 with a remarkable eight consecutive clear rounds.

Jessica Kürten returns to Dublin as chef d'equipe of the Irish team for the first time next week

Sweetnam’s Irish-bred star James Kann Cruz has been selected for the upcoming World Equestrian Games in Aachen later this month so will bypass Dublin but with Coriaan van Klapscheut Z he has been one of the great new combinations at this level with multiple five-star wins.

While Daniel has been on the squad a number of times, he has never jumped the competition and will hope to do so next week with Farrell, while it would also be a debut for Jordan - and what a proud day it would be for their families.

The upcoming World Games will have an impact on the horsepower of the Irish but there will rarely be a more special time to lift the famous trophy than on the centenary year to mark Kürten’s first 5* victory at the helm and keep the Aga Khan in Ireland for the first time since 2022.

Top contenders

The 2025 winners The Netherlands are back among the eight teams to take on the competition. They were one of the original six teams who competed in the first ever Aga Khan in 1926, alongside Belgium, France, Britain, Ireland and Switzerland who all return, as well as a team from Germany and the USA.

The most exciting team on paper look to be the 2024 winners, USA. They have arguably the most in-form combination in the world at present in world number one Kent Farrington and Greya. The pair won the FEI Jumping World Cup Final title in Fort Worth in April and have decided to bypass the World Championships.

The exceptional grey mare won seven 5* Grands Prix in 2025 including Geneva and began 2026 with another Grand Prix win at the top level and, as a Rolex testimonee, there is no doubt Farrington’s eyes are firmly fixed on Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix. He previously won the Grand Prix of Ireland in 2015.

Another joy for show jumping fans will be the sight of Karl Cook’s wonderful mare Caracole de la Roque, a multiple five-star Grand Prix winner and Paris Olympic medallist. Last year’s Grand Prix hero Laura Kraut – who won with the only clear round – will also be back to defend her title. Also lining out for the USA is Natalie Dean and Paris Sellon who is trained by the Irish chef d’equipe.

The British team are always gunning for a win in Dublin and they come off the back of victory in their home Nations Cup at Hickstead and fully loaded with three athletes from the famous Whitaker family, led by the legendary John Whitaker. John, who turns 71 on the opening day of the show, is a former winner of the Dublin Grand Prix in 1994 and 1999. John is joined by his son Robert who is arriving after winning the five-star George V Gold Cup last weekend with Equine America Vermento.

The father and son are joined on the squad by William Whitaker, Matthew Sampson and Tim Gredley who is in fine form after a double clear with Medoc de Toxandria in the big Hickstead arena last Friday week.

A strong German squad is headed by the 2025 European champion Richard Vogel and Daniel Deusser, while Andre Thieme has rerouted his 2021 European champion DSP Chakaria from the World Championships in Aachen to Dublin.

Twin brothers Nicola and Olivier Philippaerts head an exciting Belgian team made of up Jos Verlooy, Jerome Guery and Frederic Vernaet.

Cian O’Connor is set to made a remarkable 20th appearance on an Aga Khan team next week \ Ljuba Buzzola LGCT

Home pride

As previously mentioned, there are a strong number of former Dublin Grand Prix winners in the field; they include Bertram Allen who comes to Dublin with his Tokyo Olympic horse Pacino Amiro among others. Conor Swail has never won but has been on the podium and he too comes home to Ireland with a talented Irish Sport Horse in Clonterm Obolensky who jumped a double clear in the Hickstead Nations Cup.

Also among the 20 Irish athletes with an international slot is Niamh McEvoy who has enjoyed a remarkable season making her five-star team debut. The Ballypatrick Stables rider won her first ever five-star class here 12 months ago and takes her top mounts BP Rocket Man and Olympic GL FVD. She will be busy in the national show jumping classes too.

He won’t be part of the Aga Khan team this year but Tom Wachman will arrive at the RDS fresh from winning back-to-back individual silver medals at the Young Rider European Championships last weekend, and is joined in the 5* by his brother Max, a former winner of the Aga Khan in 2022.

Lt Michaeli Byrne has been rising up through the international ranks this season and made her CSIO5* Nations Cup debut in Hickstead aboard MSH Claregalway. On the 100th anniversary of the Army Equitation School, Dublin is an important milestone and Byrne is joined by her colleague Commandant Geoff Curran. Under the watchful eye of the new Commanding Officer, Lt Col Sharon Crean, it will be a big week for the Army riders.

From the national 1.50m Plusvital Premier Series, Francis Derwin and Jason Foley have booked their tickets and both young men are true competitors who we can expect to see in the line-ups next week.

The Irish Sport Horse ESI Rocky, bred by the Hughes family at Ennisnag Stud, wowed the home crowd in the Aga Khan under Seamus Hughes Kennedy last year and he returns to Ballsbridge for this year’s show under Monaco’s Anastasia Nielson. The combination has proved to be a match made in heaven and among their results include a five-star 1.60m Grand Prix win in St Tropez in June. Nielson will know Rocky has performed here before. She is trained by Irish show jumper Cameron Hanley, a previous winner of the Dublin Grand Prix, and will be one to watch in Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix.

Saturday’s Defender Puissance is one of the most enjoyed classes of the week and Rachel Proudly became the first female rider to win the class in 61 years in 2025. She is back to defend her title with Easy Boy De Laubry Z after she nobly donated last year’s prize fund to Temple Street Children’s Hospital.