Tamie Smith & Danito Lead The Final On A Venue Record
Tamie Smith & Danito lead the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final on 22.8 after dressage at Morven Park. It is the lowest test in the history of the Morven Park CCI4*-L. The Series winners went last of 36 and finished 3.2 clear of Sharon White & Claus 63. Cross country is Saturday.
Kim Severson & Cooley Corraghy Diamond started Friday in front on 29.8. The lead lasted into the first group of the afternoon.
Isabelle Bosley & Conner took the lead on 28.9, a four-star best.
Alyssa Phillips & Rockett 19 then scored 26.4, a four-star personal best, and Peter Gray at C gave them 75.71%, the highest single mark of the week up until that point.
Sharon White & Claus 63 took over on 26.0. Lucienne Bellissimo & Dyri (26.6) and Laine Ashker & Lovedance (26.9) both finished just behind Rockett 19. Boyd Martin & Luke 140, the defending champion, scored 28.3. Will Coleman & Off The Record followed on 28.6, 3.5 more than their 25.1 here a year ago. That left one horse.
All three judges had Danito atop the standings: 76.19 at H, 77.14 at C and 78.33 at B. His lowest mark was higher than any mark given to another horse in the division. The judges were 2.14 apart.
22.8 breaks the venue record by 2.3. Off The Record set the previous mark of 25.1 last year. It is Danito's best long-format test at four-star level, 1.1 better than his 23.9 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2021. His best four-star test is still the 19.5 he scored winning the CCI4*-S at Tryon in May.
The lead is 3.2, less than one rail. Morven Park CCI4*-L winners have averaged 29.1 in the dressage since the event started in 2021, and the lowest finishing score is Miks Master C's 28.7 last year. Danito sits 5.9 inside it.
History is less kind to dressage leaders. Only one has gone on to win, Boyd Martin & Commando 3 in 2023. Three of the other four finished second.
Claus 63 is second, and top two after dressage at Morven Park for the third time. He led here in 2022 and was second last year. 26.0 is Sharon White's second-best test at four-star level (since records began in 2008), behind the 25.2 he scored here in 2025. Three of her five best international tests have now come at this venue.
Rockett 19 is third. Dyri is fourth on his best test in three CCI4*-L starts here, after 28.5 in 2023 and 30.7 in 2024, when he led the dressage and finished second. Lovedance is fifth. Eight horses sit between 26.0 and 28.9, and Severson is tenth on 29.8. The top ten are covered by 7.0.
Luke 140 is sixth and Off The Record seventh. Caroline Pamukcu's three rides are spread through the field: HSH Connor eighth on 28.8, HSH Tolan King 16th and HSH Sebastian 19th.
Four horses set four-star dressage personal bests on Friday.
Laine Ashker & Lovedance went furthest. 26.9 is the best international test of the mare's career and of Ashker's (since records began in 2008). The previous best for both was 27.7, winning the CCI2*-L at the Virginia Horse Center in 2022. Lovedance's four-star best was 29.3. This is her first CCI4*-L.
Rockett 19 beat the 27.0 he scored at The Event at TerraNova in March. It is also his best CCI4*-L test by 1.9, and the second-best test of Phillips's career at four-star or above. Conner beat his 31.1 from Stable View in April by 2.2. It is the best four-star test of Bosley's career.
Waylon Roberts & Fernhill Salt Lake, the only Canadian combination in the field, scored 31.3, 0.4 inside the 31.7 personal best that he posted at TerraNova and Stable View.
Three more horses set long-format bests. Danito's 22.8 is one. Elisa Wallace & Lissavorra Quality scored 31.0, 2.3 better than their test here last year. Gabby Dickerson & Traditionally Fernhill improved 0.9 on their 2025 Morven test with 35.6. That makes six four-star personal bests across the two days of dressage, after HSH Sebastian and Shanaclough Quality Clover on Thursday.
Danito is the new favorite in the EquiRatings Prediction Centre on 24%. Claus 63 is second on 17%, up from 5% before dressage. Off The Record started the week as favorite and is now third on 15%, but he has the highest chance of a top-three finish (46%) and of a top ten (80%). Dyri is on 13% and Luke 140 on 11%. Nobody else is above 5%.
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