Kristen Vanderveen & Bull Run’s Jireh Show What it Takes to Win the €105,800 STX Finance CSI 5*

By Jumper News USA on August 31, 2026

Wolvertem, Belgium – August 28, 2026 – In Friday’s €105,800 STX Finance Grand Prix Qualifier CSI 5*, 56 combinations took to the Grand Place Arena, with valuable qualification points towards Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix at stake.

Nine combinations produced a clear first round and advanced to the jump-off, where Kristen Vanderveen (USA) and Bull Run’s Jireh proved untouchable. Vanderveen had already shown her intentions in the opening round, keeping her 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding by Uriko clear within the time. In the jump-off, the American rider stepped things up another gear. A fast, fluent round in 35.02 seconds put her more than two seconds clear of the rest of the field and ultimately secured the win.

Ireland’s Cian O’Connor (IRL) and Kentucky TN came closest to beating them. They also kept all the fences standing in the deciding round and stopped the clock at 37.33 seconds, good for second place.

Germany’s Richard Vogel (GER) followed only half a second later aboard Gangster Montdesir, finishing third in 37.83 seconds.

**Kristen Vanderveen** (USA) & **Bull Run’s Jireh**

With another important Grand Prix qualifier decided, the picture for Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix continues to take shape, and Kristen Vanderveen has certainly added her name to the list of combinations to watch. For Vanderveen, the result put the finishing touch on what was already a special first visit to Brussels.

“I really came to Brussels Stephex Masters just to be part of the experience,” she explains. “I’ve heard great things about it here, and it’s my first time touring in Europe, so I haven’t experienced a lot of the shows over here yet. I was excited to come and see what everybody was talking about.” Even a week that brought its share of challenging weather did little to change that first impression.

“Clearly this has been handled before. I feel like management has done a great job keeping everything to the highest standard for us. It has been cool to be part of a beautiful grass show like this, and then to have a great result today is the cherry on top.”

Bull Run’s Jireh is far more than simply a successful horse in Vanderveen’s string. She has been involved in his journey since the end of his seven-year-old year and has experienced virtually every stage of his development into a top-level horse alongside him. “He is a really special horse for me because I’ve been able to go through the whole process with him,” she says. “He had a great upbringing, his breeder has stayed involved in his career and I’m still very close the riders who rode him as a young horse. It has been really cool to be part of his entire career. He really is such a superstar” And if Friday’s atmosphere was supposed to intimidate him, Jireh clearly had other ideas. “He’s just a showman. No atmosphere can make him back down. In this big grass ring, I really feel like he likes to show off.”

Vanderveen did not drastically change her plan for the jump-off, but watching Cian O’Connor (IRL) go immediately before her sharpened the approach. “Getting to see Cian go before me was great. He looked like he really went fast, and the times were pretty close. My plan was to try and win the class, so seeing him go gave me a little extra inspiration to make sure I didn’t leave the door open at all.” Jireh’s particular qualities allowed her to attack places where others might have hesitated. “He is really a combination specialist. I can come into combinations a lot faster than most people are comfortable with because he is very smart.”

Vanderveen rode seven strides on the inside line into the combination before putting her foot down once more on the way to the final fence. “The run to the last was faster than I would normally like, but Cian also ran to the last, so I figured it was a little bit game on today. It was really a lot of fun.”