Kim Severson Leads The Final After Day One

Katie Lichten & HTS Jensen R set the early mark. They scored 31.4 in the opening group and led for most of the afternoon. Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Sebastian sat second on 34.2 and Gabby Dickerson and Casalto third on 36.6, and those three held their places for the first hour.

Woods Baughman & Hopak de Greenbay Z were the first to get close. Their 32.1 was 0.7 off the lead and 3.7 better than their test here a year ago. Lucienne Bellissimo and Kitsch Couture HPK went into third on 34.1, with the widest judge split of the session to that point. Savannah Fulton and Cash Point then beat that split: Peter Gray at C had them first of eleven on 69.05 while the other two judges had them sixth and fifth, a gap of 5.95 percentage points.

The lead changed once. Kim Severson & Cooley Corraghy Diamond came in as the 12th test of the day and scored 29.8, 1.6 clear of Lichten. Gray gave them 73.57, the highest single mark of the day by more than four points. Caroline Pamukcu followed with her second ride, HSH Tolan King, and went into fourth on 32.6, 0.5 behind Baughman. Nobody else got inside the top four.

This is Severson's first CCI4*-L dressage test since 2017. Her last long-format runs at the top level were two CCI5*-L starts in 2018. She leads the Final on a nine-year-old making his debut at the level.

Cooley Corraghy Diamond's 29.8 is the second-best of his nine four-star tests. Only his 29.2 at the Maryland International in June was better, and his 30.1 at Fairburn in August comes next. He arrived here 3% to win in the EquiRatings Prediction Centre but now sits on a 6% win chance after his test.

The history is on his side, up to a point. Morven Park CCI4*-L winners have averaged 29.1 in the dressage over the past five years. The dressage leader has won once in that time, Boyd Martin and Commando 3 in 2023.

Two horses set four-star dressage personal bests. Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Sebastian scored 34.2, beating the 35.6 they posted at Stable View last month. It is only his third four-star test and his first at CCI4*-L.

Moriah Orms & Shanaclough Quality Clover scored 39.4, inside their previous best of 40.6 from the Tryon CCI4*-L in May. He is the only horse in the field with a perfect record from his last ten international cross country rounds.

Katie Lichten & HTS Jensen R set a best as a combination. Their 31.4 beats the 32.8 they scored at Fairburn in March. The horse's own four-star best is 29.4, set with Allison Springer at TerraNova in November 2025.

The near miss belongs to the leader. Cooley Corraghy Diamond was 0.6 off his four-star best. Behind him, Vandyke posted his best CCI4*-L test by 2.0 for Allison Springer, Hopak de Greenbay Z his best Morven test at four-star, and Go Go improved 4.4 on her test here last year for Sara Beth Anton.

Twenty combinations go on Friday. Tamie Smith & Danito, the Series winners, are last into the arena. Immediately before them come Will Coleman & Off The Record, who scored 25.1 here last year and start as favorites, and the defending champion Boyd Martin & Luke 140. Lucienne Bellissimo and Dyri and Pamukcu's third ride, HSH Connor, also go on Friday. Cross-country is Saturday.

Dressage after day one

Judges: Bea di Grazia (H), Peter Gray (C), Christian Steiner (B).

#	Combination	H	C	B	Score
1	Kim Severson Cooley Corraghy Diamond	69.05	73.57	68.10	29.8
2	Katie Lichten HTS Jensen R	69.52	68.10	68.33	31.4
3	Woods Baughman Hopak de Greenbay Z	69.52	68.10	66.19	32.1
4	Caroline Pamukcu HSH Tolan King	68.10	65.00	69.05	32.6
5	Lucienne Bellissimo Kitsch Couture HPK	64.29	68.33	65.24	34.1
6	Caroline Pamukcu HSH Sebastian	66.90	64.29	66.19	34.2
7	Savannah Fulton Cash Point	63.10	69.05	63.33	34.8
8	Shannon Lilley Eindhoven Garette	63.57	64.52	64.05	36.0
9	Alex O'Neal Creative Genius	65.00	65.24	61.43	36.1
10	Allison Springer Vandyke	62.62	63.57	64.29	36.5
11	Gabby Dickerson Casalto	62.38	65.00	62.86	36.6
12	Natalia Neneman Chesterland's Brown Sugar	63.10	64.29	62.62	36.7
13	Ali Kuhn Little Hail	62.86	63.10	62.14	37.3
14	Tracey Bienemann Venezuelan River	59.52	62.62	61.90	38.7
15	Michelle Koppin Calcourt Valley	60.48	62.86	58.81	39.3
16	Moriah Orms Shanaclough Quality Clover	61.19	60.95	59.76	39.4
17	Sara Beth Anton Go Go	58.57	58.57	61.67	40.4

Scores via Morven Park live results. Form data via EquiRatings.