The Open Weekly: Tamie Smith Secures the Series and Dressage Restarts in Devon
A weekly update across eventing, jumping, and dressage, covering results, leaderboard shifts, and the next Open qualifiers.
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Eventing
Smith Wins the Series at Twin Rivers
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Tamie Smith & Danito won the CCI4*-S at Twin Rivers Fall International, with Spiro P second. On the small qualifier scale that is 40 points and 35 points, and it carried Smith from 235 to 265. Two qualifiers remain and nobody left in the chase can reach her. The 2026 US Equestrian Open of Eventing Series is won.
The six scores that built 265, and the math that puts it out of reach, are on the site.
Read the full story →Qualifiers 17 and 18 of 20 ran on the same weekend, one on each coast. Both were small fields, so both paid on the 40 point scale.
At Plantation Field the cross-country clock decided it. Monica Spencer & Valkyrie were eighth after dressage on 34.3 and came home with the fastest round of the class to take the win. Laine Ashker & Lovedance led the first phase on 29.9 and finished second. Mia Farley & Invictus were third. Fourth is where the Series moved.
Caroline Pamukcu went to Plantation Field third in the Series and came out of it tied for third. The 25 points for fourth with HSH Tolan King put her level with Boyd Martin on 210. Will Coleman holds second on 215, and neither he nor Martin is entered at either remaining qualifier, so both totals are fixed.
Pamukcu and Lucienne Bellissimo both have two rides at Stable View Oktoberfest on September 25, and both can reach 235 from it. That is enough to take second outright. Neither is entered at Woodside Fall International on October 2, which closes the Series, so 235 is the ceiling for the whole chasing group. The Series pays $25,000 for first, $15,000 for second and $10,000 for third. Two of those three are still live.
Eighteen qualifiers down, two to go. The title is settled and the order of draw at Morven Park is the only thing the leaderboard now decides. The $200,000 Final starts on October 8th.
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Jumping
King Edward Keeps World Number One
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Six points covered the top of the EquiRatings Elo rankings going into the weekend. King Edward sat top on 792, James Kann Cruz was second on 788 and Greya third on 786. Two of the three were in the same class at Traverse City and the third was in France. It was the weekend the crown could have changed hands.
Elo is a horse rating. It adjusts after every result based on who it beats and who beats it. Each class works as a points exchange, so the strength of the field decides how much a result is worth. Beating better horses moves the number further than beating the rest.
Traverse City settled the American end of it. Beat Mändli & Qoachella won the five-star Grand Prix, the only pair to jump two clear rounds. Shane Sweetnam & James Kann Cruz were quicker than the winner in the jump-off at 35.61 but took a rail, and finished second. Kent Farrington & Greya never got to the jump-off. One time fault in the first round left them in equal sixth, level with McLain Ward & Jordan Molga M. Sweetnam finished four places and one rating rival ahead of Farrington in the same class.
Henrik von Eckermann & King Edward were third in the Grand Prix at Saint Tropez on two faults, behind clears from Marlon Modolo Zanotelli & Charly Heart and Mark McAuley & Rossi vd Heffinck. A podium, but in the weaker of the two fields, so it may carry less in the exchange than a five-star second place at Traverse City.
The order at the top will holds. King Edward stays world number one, James Kann Cruz closes rather than passes, and this is not the week Greya takes the crown back.
Greya held the top spot in April. Winning the $1M Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix at Wellington and the FEI World Cup Final at Fort Worth took her from 777 to 788. It made her the highest-rated US horse since EquiRatings began tracking in 2010, past the 784 McLain Ward & HH Azur set in 2018.
Five months on she is two points off that peak and third in the world. Every five-star start is a chance to take it back, and one time fault is all it took to put it off for another week.
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Dressage
Devon's 10-Year Record is Still Standing... For Now
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For 15 weeks, the US Equestrian Open of Dressage leaderboard has been frozen. This week, finally, it thaws.
Competition picks back up at the legendary Dressage at Devon in Pennsylvania, one of just two qualifiers left this season. Fifteen riders will contest the freestyle this weekend, which also opens the 2027 World Cup qualifying season. Before we preview this year's field, let's take a look back at what the Dixon Oval has already given us.
Devon's ten highest freestyle scores ever date back to 2013, when Ashley Holzer, this year's US Equestrian Open Dressage Leading Lady presented by Frank & Eileen, took second aboard Breaking Dawn on a 76.525. The best freestyle ever ridden at Devon came in 2015, and more than ten years later, it still hasn't been broken.
Last year, Benjamin Ebeling & Bellena came within 0.2 percentage points of that all-time high. They went on to win the US Equestrian Open Final later that year. Only time will tell if Devon once again tees up the Series' champion.
Stay tuned later this week when we dive into the specifics of the 15 riders competing at what will be this year's largest qualifier.
Thanks for joining us for this week’s edition. A fresh update of The Open Weekly drops on the site every Tuesday.
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