Dressage at Devon by the Numbers: Kevin Kohmann's Upset and a 0.005 Photo Finish

Five days before Devon, we called a Kevin Kohmann win unlikely. Whoops.

Dressage at Devon was the biggest qualifier of the 2026 US Equestrian Open of Dressage season, and it left behind some rather fascinating numbers. With only TerraNova left to go, the leaderboard looks almost nothing like it did a week ago. Let's take a look back at the numbers that made this year's Dressage at Devon so impactful.

The Sonata MF Breakthrough

77.105%

Kohmann and Sonata MF won Saturday's CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle in their first international freestyle together. By Kohmann's own count, it was only the second time they'd ridden the test start to finish. "We only got the music a week ago," he said after his win.

It's also the highest score Kohmann has posted in any Series freestyle this season. His previous best was 75.790, at AGDF 7, despite that test being ridden on longtime partner and seasoned competitor, 17-year-old Dünensee.

Series points scale with field size, and the top tier is only available to a class with 11 or more starters. That almost never happens. WEC classes this season ran as small as three horses. Del Mar fields topped out at four. Exactly two classes all year have been big enough: AGDF 7 with 11 starters, and Devon with 13.

So only two riders in the Series have a 25 on the board. Isabell Werth, from AGDF 7. And now Kohmann.

How much does field size matter? A win in a class of five or fewer pays 15. At Devon, last place paid 8, the same as third in a small class. Kohmann's 25 took him from 40 points to 65, and from a tie for 8th to 1st.

The only other 25-point class of 2026 was AGDF 7 (11 starters), won by Isabell Werth on 82.660%. Kohmann's win moved him from 40 points (tied 8th) to 65 points (1st).

Statistical Anomalies

+8.137

Before Devon, all we had to go on for this pair was their Grand Prix average of 68.968. Freestyles score higher than Grand Prix tests, so some lift was expected. Across this field, horses typically gain about 4-5 points from Grand Prix to Freestyle.

Kohmann and Sonata MF gained… 8.137.

In our Devon preview, we figured he'd need about six points of lift (6.147, to be exact) just to match the lowest freestyle Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu had ever scored on Jaccardo. We called that a tall order. Clearly it wasn't.

Points gained from Grand Prix average to freestyle score. Kohmann and Sonata MF: 68.968 Grand Prix average, 77.105 at Devon.

Typical lift across the field

about 4-5

 

Kohmann needed to match Fraser-Beaulieu's lowest freestyle (75.115)

+6.147

 

Kohmann and Sonata MF at Devon

+8.137

 

Bars plotted on a 0 to 9 point scale. Kohmann exceeded the needed mark by 1.990.

The Split Panel

2 of 5

Kohmann won the class, but he did not win the judging panel outright. Only two of the five judges, H and C, had him first. Ali Potasky also topped two sheets, E and B. Fraser-Beaulieu topped the fifth judge at M.

So how do you win when three judges prefer someone else? You're never far behind. Kohmann was the only rider in the class to land top three on every sheet. He also earned the single highest mark of the day, 79.150 from the judge at C.

Potasky shows the flip side. Two judges had her first. M had her 6th, on 73.575. Camille Carier Bergeron never placed lower than 4th with any judge, and finished 3rd.

Living on the Edge

0.010

The podium was ultimately close. Kohmann finished 0.590 ahead of Fraser-Beaulieu. Fraser-Beaulieu finished 0.010 ahead of Carier Bergeron. The top four were separated by just 0.780 in total.

Devon's winning margin also sneaks into the season's photo-finish camp. Our margins piece found nine classes won by less than six tenths of a point. At 0.590, Devon makes it ten.

0.005

Back in our margins piece, we wrote this about Devon Kane:

“Devon Kane holds four of the season's 19 tightest gaps. Guess how many qualifiers she's ridden. Four. Every single one was a fight.”

From our analysis of the season's tightest scoring margins

Make that five for five.

Kane finished 7th at Devon, five thousandths of a point behind Laine Ashker. That 0.005 percent ties the smallest margin of the season. The other 0.005? AGDF 11, Potasky over Kane. She's been on the wrong end of both. (Ashker, for what it's worth, has now evened things up. Kane held her off by 0.210 at AGDF 7.)

5.550

Here's the strange part. Ashker's ride drew the widest disagreement amongst judges. Judge E scored her 71.150, 8th on that sheet. Judge B scored her 76.700, 4th. That's a 5.550-point split from the two judges sitting across the arena from each other.

And the panel that agreed least about her produced the tightest result of the day. Five very different opinions averaged out to five thousandths ahead of Kane. (Math is strange sometimes isn't it?)

The most unanimous panel belonged to Karen Lipp, with a 2.000 spread. Kohmann's sat right in the middle at 3.950.

Personal Bests & Leaderboard Jumps

5

Five riders set personal bests at Devon. Most were small bumps, but one wasn't. Potasky jumped 3.900 points, finished 4th, and had two judges ranking her first. (Sonata MF's 77.105 is her best by default, so the debut isn't on this list.)

+18

Carier Bergeron came into Devon with one qualifier on the board. Devon gave her a second. She went from 37th to a tie for 19th, the biggest jump of the weekend. She's Final-eligible now, and just one point under the cutoff line.

One Qualifier Left

It isn't over yet. If Fraser-Beaulieu makes the trip to TerraNova, she has the best shot at taking over the lead. She's 10 points back, and with only three counting scores so far, every point she earns there goes straight onto her total.

Expect the final qualifier to shake up the standings again, at the top and at the cutoff for the Final. Dressage at TerraNova kicks off October 15.