Last weekend at The Fork, Boyd Martin soared to the top of the Open leaderboard after securing a 120-point haul. Phillip Dutton, on 215 points, is now sitting pretty in second place. But, while Boyd is fairly out of reach this late in the Series, Phillip can be caught and if he is, it will cost him $5,000.

Prize money come Series end:

• 1st - $25,000
• 2nd - $15,000
• 3rd - $10,000

One rider with a good shot at catching Phillip is James Alliston. 

James is competing in this weekend's Qualifier 18 - Twin Rivers - and he’s won the last five editions of the event.

This time, James brings forward a CCI4* first-timer, HMR Rolan. But looking at Rolan’s results, so far he has handled everything in stride. James has taken Rolan around four internationals and, across all four, Rolan has added just 4 penalties to his dressage score, just a single rail. That’s it.

On their latest outing last month - a national event - James and Rolan were crowned USEA Open Intermediate Champions and before that, they finished second in the Rebecca Farm CCI3*-L.

Now, facing Rolan's first CCI4*, the pair compete against five other combinations and according to EquiRatings Predictive Analytics, they have a 35% chance of winning.

That’s important because a win here would take James from 145 Series points to 185 points and equal third in the Series.

Then, after Twin Rivers, there is one last qualifier on the West Coast - Qualifier 20: Woodside. The Woodside Fall International is an event James has started 24 times before, including two entries in the CCI2*-S last year. He hasn’t contested the CCI4*-S there since 2020 but he may be incentivized to enter this year - given the horse power - if it gives him a chance to secure more Open winnings. 

The Scenario

Say James wins Twin Rivers this weekend to sit on 185 points coming into Woodside. To then catch Phillip on 215, James would need to place third or higher at Woodside (30+ Series points) to meet or exceed Phillip. Now, from 2020 onward, the number of Woodside 4*-S starters has ranged from 2 (2024) to 15 (2020), so placing third this year may be more or less straightforward depending on the number of this year’s entries.  

Other Challengers

Another qualifier going on this weekend is the East Coast’s Plantation Field. Of that field, Caroline Pamukcu and Jennie Brannigan are the two that could join James in a race for the Open podium.

All to say, the Series ain't over. The checks aren’t written. Stay tuned.

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The Final in a snapshot. For full Series details, head to our quick guide.

Current Series Standings (Sep 18, 2025):

See the full, updated series standings and how the leaders got to the top, here.

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