The Brussels Stephex Masters delivered a spectacular conclusion to the 2026 Rolex Series season, with Richard Vogel claiming victory in the Rolex Grand Prix presented by Audi aboard his trusted partner Gangster Montdesir.

Under a welcome return of sunshine after several days of rain, 48 horse-and-rider combinations took on the demanding 1.60m course designed by Grégory Bodo, featuring 14 obstacles and 17 jumping efforts. The difficulty of the track quickly became apparent, with poles falling regularly and the first clear rounds taking a long time to emerge.

Among the early starters, Ben Maher, Cian O’Connor, Piergiorgio Bucci and Antoine Ermann all picked up faults. The challenging course proved particularly testing at the entry of the double, which caused difficulties for several combinations throughout the class.

Giampiero Garofalo eventually produced the first clear round over the fences, but added one time penalty. It was then Eduardo Pereira de Menezes who delivered the first completely faultless round of the competition. Simon Delestre followed with another clear, before Frederic Vernaet and Billy Twomey also completed the first round without fault.

Defending champion Nina Mallevaey was among the highly anticipated riders to enter the arena, but finished with four faults. Pieter Devos and Daniel Deusser also recorded four faults, while Julien Épaillard (FRA)completed his round on four faults.

Then came Richard Vogel. Fresh from his team World Championship title in Aachen, the German rider produced a brilliant clear aboard Gangster Montdesir, securing his place in the second round.

At the end of the first round, 12 combinations qualified for the second round: Richard Vogel, Eduardo Pereira de Menezes, Frederic Vernaet, Billy Twomey, Simon Delestre, Giampiero Garofalo, Lara Tryba, Daniel Deusser, Julien Épaillard, Max Kühner, Nina Mallevaey and Denis Lynch.

A THRILLING SECOND ROUND

Denis Lynch opened the second round and added four faults to his score, bringing his total to eight. Nina Mallevaey delivered a very fast performance, but one fence down also left her on eight faults.

Julien Épaillard pushed the pace and produced an exceptionally fast round, but also finished on eight faults overall. Daniel Deusser then delivered a superb clear aboard Pepita van’t Meulenhof BR. With his four faults from the first round, he moved into the provisional lead in 43.01 seconds.

Simon Delestre remained in contention. One fence down at the entry of the double did not prevent him from moving into provisional second place thanks to his fast time of 46.61 seconds.

Frederic Vernaet, clear in the first round, added just four faults and moved into provisional third place.

But the final two riders could still change everything.

Eduardo Pereira de Menezes produced the only clear round of the second round. Aboard H5 Londontime, the Brazilian stopped the clock in an outstanding 42.85 seconds to take the lead.

Last to go, Richard Vogel knew exactly what he had to do. With Gangster Montdesir, he delivered another exceptional performance, crossing the finish line in 42.34 seconds, 0.51 seconds faster than Pereira de Menezes.

The title was secured: Richard Vogel claimed the Rolex Grand Prix presented by Audi in a thrilling final duel.

RICHARD VOGEL TRIUMPHS IN BRUSSELS

With a time of 42.34 seconds, Richard Vogel and Gangster Montdesir won the final Rolex Grand Prix of the 2026 Rolex Series season.

Eduardo Pereira de Menezes and H5 Londontime finished second in 42.85 seconds, while Daniel Deusser and Pepita van’t Meulenhof BR completed the podium in 43.01 seconds.

Top 3:

Richard Vogel & Gangster Montdesir : 42.34 sec

Eduardo Pereira de Menezes & H5 Londontime : 42.85 sec

Daniel Deusser & Pepita van’t Meulenhof BR : 43.01 sec

After five days of exceptional competition at the Brussels Stephex Masters, the 2026 Rolex Series season comes to a spectacular close with Richard Vogel claiming the final Rolex Grand Prix of the year.