Four Weeks On: Four Moments From The Final We Are Still Thinking About

 

This time four weeks ago, the horses trotted up at Morven Park for the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final. Four days later, Sharon White & Claus 63 had won it on their cross-country score of 30.8. At his fourth Morven four-long, after two eliminations here, he took the $200,000 Final by 5.8 penalties.

That story has been told. Four others from the week have stayed with us, and they are worth talking about before they are forgotten.

How Sharon White & Claus 63 won the Final →

The 2026 Series, from Bouckaert to Morven Park →

1	Laine Ashker's Best Ever Test Laine Ashker & Lovedance

Laine Ashker & Lovedance scored 26.9 on Friday afternoon. It was the best test of Laine's international career: the lowest of her 75 on record since 2008, across 14 horses. For the mare it was 0.8 lower than the 27.7 she posted winning the Lexington CCI2*-L in November 2022, and 2.4 better than her previous four-star best. She did it on her CCI4*-L debut.

The rest of the week held up. Clear across country with 12.8 time, her fastest four-star round. Jumping clear on Sunday with 0.8 time. She finished fifth on 40.5, her best four-star finish by 8.2 penalties. Laine also rode in the 2025 Open Dressage Final, the only rider to compete in both Finals.

2	Two Inside the Time, and One of Them Was Nine Isabelle Bosley & Conner

Thirty-three horses started cross-country. Two came home inside the 10'09" optimum time. Will Coleman & Off The Record stopped the clock on 10'01". Isabelle Bosley & Conner stopped it on 10'09" exactly.

Off The Record making the time was no surprise. He is proven at the level, an Aachen winner, and he did the same here last year. Conner came out of nowhere. It was his first four-star cross-country round inside the time. His previous five included 20 penalties at Bouckaert and Stable View and a retirement in the Bromont CCI4*-L in June.

A year earlier he won the Maryland CCI3*-L wire to wire on 24.8. Twelve months later he sat 0.3 off the lead of the Final. Three rails on Sunday dropped him to 7th, and a clear inside the time would have won it by 1.9. It would be easy to overlook him on that. Don't. It was still his first CCI4*-L completion and his best four-star finish. He has serious class and he will have his day. He is only nine, and a superstar for the future.

3	Twelve Clears and Counting Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Connor · 12 show jumping clears in a row

Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Connor jumped clear inside the time on Sunday. It was his 12th consecutive international show jumping round without a jumping penalty. The run goes back to April 2023 and includes a clear here that October, when he won the Morven CCI3*-S on his dressage score.

Since 2008, 5,354 horses have jumped an international round for a US rider. Eleven have strung 13 clears together. The longest active streak belongs to Mary Bess Davis's Imperio Magic, 13 rounds, all at CCI4* or above. He went into Sunday 4th but was withdrawn at the second horse inspection. His streak stays at 13, untested.

HSH Connor's 12 is the second-longest active streak by a US rider. Three horses sit two back on 10.

Active show jumping clear streaks by US riders, all levels, 2008 onwards. Clear means no jumping penalties, time faults ignored. Active means the horse has jumped at an FEI event in 2026. 

HSH Connor's two previous CCI4*-Ls, at TerraNova and Tryon, both ended on cross-country. This one ended 10th, clear in both jumping phases.

4	Five Starts, Five Podiums Mia Farley & Invictus · 3rd in the Final

Mia Farley & Invictus finished third on 39.8. They were =12th after dressage and 6th after cross-country, then jumped clear inside the time on Sunday. This combination had five top-level (4 and 5*) starts in 2026, five podiums: 2nd at The Event at TerraNova, 3rd at Cosequin Lexington Kentucky, 1st at Tryon International, 3rd at Plantation Field International, and finally, 3rd in the Final.

The other five-from-five seasons belong to Jonathan Paget & Clifton Promise in 2008, Jung and Sam in 2009 and 2011, and David Middleton & WEC In The Money in 2024. Fourteen combinations have done it from four or more starts. The only other US pairing among them is Phillip Dutton & Truluck, four from four in 2010.

Four weeks on. One 26.9. Two inside the time. Twelve clears. Five podiums.