The Aachen Five: A Deep Dive
The top-level form and performance ratings for every member of the 2026 Defender United States Eventing Squad
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Eventing
The Numbers Behind the Aachen Five
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The Defender United States Eventing Squad for the 2026 FEI World Championships was named yesterday. Five combinations will travel to Aachen:
- Will Coleman & Diabolo
- Phillip Dutton & Possante
- Boyd Martin & Cooley Nutcracker
- Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Blake
- Tamie Smith & Lillet 3
Four of the five riders sit inside the top four on the Open leaderboard. The fifth, Phillip Dutton, completes the squad after a light domestic program this year.
This is a deep dive. Every combination, their form, and the ratings that put them on the plane.
THE FORM
The table below tracks each combination at CCI4*-L and CCI5*-L, plus Cooley Nutcracker's and HSH Blake's Paris 2024 runs. Those two are the only horses in the squad with previous championship experience though every squad rider has previously competed at either an Olympics or Worlds (or both in the case of Coleman, Dutton, and Martin).
| Horse | Wins / Completions / Runs | DressageAvg | Cross CountryJump+Time Clears / Jump Clears / Runs | Show JumpingSJJ Clears / Runs | FinalAvg |
| DiaboloWill Coleman | 133 | 32.4 | 233 | 13 | 34.0 |
| PossantePhillip Dutton | 035 | 28.9 | 035 | 13 | 45.6 |
| Cooley Nutcracker*Boyd Martin | 378 | 30.3 | 168 | 47 | 36.8 |
| HSH Blake*Caroline Pamukcu | 144 | 28.4 | 134 | 34 | 40.8 |
| Lillet 3Tamie Smith | 122 | 27.9 | 112 | 02 | 45.0 |
THE RATINGS
We've gathered the three best High Performance Ratings produced by each horse across CCI4*, CCI5*, and major championships. Because HPR reads the quality of a performance rather than the finishing position, the rating can compares across events and years in a way a placing cannot.
Diabolo tops the group on his max HPR rating of 102, earned by winning the 2026 Defender Kentucky CCI5* - the only 5* winner on the squad (of the horses). HSH Blake is next at 101. Lillet 3, Possante, and both of Diabolo's lower marks cluster in the high 90s. Five horses, five routes to the same start line in Germany, and four of them charted through the Open.
THE ROUNDUP
Diabolo carries the best high performance rating on the squad, posting a 102 by winning the 2026 Kentucky CCI5*. This pair also has the lowest average finishing score across their 4*-L and 5* career (34.0).
A fixture of American teams across multiple Olympic Games and World Championships, Dutton sits 29th in the Series on a light domestic program rather than a full qualifier campaign. Possante has five starts at 4*-L and 5* with three completions, and his dressage average at those levels is sub-30; only HSH Blake has a lower average.
Martin brings forward the most-experienced 4*-L and 5* horse. Cooley Nutcracker has eight starts at those levels, seven completions, and three wins (three starts and one win with Boyd). Nutcracker represented Team USA at the 2024 Olympics with Liz Halliday and registered a top HPR of 95 by placing third at Pau 2025 with Boyd.
Pamukcu rounds out the Series top four. HSH Blake has a perfect 4/4 completion record at the 4*-L and 5* levels, including his 2024 Olympic run for Team USA. He also carries the squad's best average dressage score at those levels (28.4). This spring, Blake & Caroline placed 2nd in the Kentucky 5* (101 HPR), second only to Diabolo.
Smith leads the Series on the back of two qualifier wins with Lillet 3, back to back at Carolina and Kentucky this spring. Lillet's best result was the Carolina CCI4*-S victory which registered an HPR of 99. That's a high-quality mark from a deep field. Aachen will be a step up for a horse early in her top-level career, and the Open has been the route there.
The FEI World Championships run from August 13 to 16 in Aachen, Germany. Follow the road to Germany across the US Equestrian Open of Eventing.
