Who Leads After Dressage? Five Horses to Watch at Morven Park
Dressage opens the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final today. These are the horses with the lowest recent averages, and the scores they have already proven they can produce.
Dressage does not win the Final on its own, but it sets the order. Four of the last five Morven Park CCI4*-L winners sat in the top three after dressage, and the average winning dressage score is 29.1.
To find who is most likely to lead, we ranked the field by 6RA, the average of each horse's last six international dressage tests. A lower 6RA means a better test. Here are the five lowest, with each horse's personal best and what the EquiRatings model expects from them this week.
Danito has the best 6RA and the best expected dressage score in the field. His personal best is the standout number of the year: 19.5 in the CCI4*-S at Tryon in May, a Series dressage record and the best international test at any level in 2026.
The rest of his last six tests sit in a tight band, from 26.3 to 28.1. His most recent was 26.3 at Twin Rivers Fall International in September, which he went on to win. Smith won this title in 2022 on Solaguayre California, from second after dressage.
Dyri's 6RA of 26.2 is second only to Danito, helped by tests of 24.3 and 24.2 at CCI2*-S and CCI3*-S level in March. His personal best of 23.2 came at Tryon in May, at CCI4*-S.
The model expects 28.8 here, higher than his 6RA, and his CCI4*-L tests at Morven Park point the same way: 28.5 in 2023 and 30.7 in 2024. His last test was 31.8 at Stable View in September.
Rockett 19 has the third-best 6RA in the field. His best test with Phillips is 22.3, at Plantation Field in September 2025. He led the Rebecca Farm CCI4*-L after dressage in July on 28.3, although there was only three in the field.
The trend is the question. His last three tests were 30.1, 28.3 and 33.0.
Luke 140 led the dressage at The Fork in September on 26.7 and went on to win, on his first run back from colic surgery. His best CCI4*-L test is 25.6, at the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2021. His best with Martin at any level is 23.9.
Martin knows how to score here. His two Morven Park wins came off dressage tests of 26.2 in 2023 and 25.9 in 2025.
Off The Record holds the Morven Park CCI4*-L dressage record, 25.1 from last year. His personal best is 21.8 at the Kentucky CCI4*-S in 2025, which is also that venues dressage record.
His range is the widest of the top five. His last six tests run from 21.8 to 35.6. His two runs this year were steadier, at 27.1 and 27.3.
Sharon White & Claus 63 scored 25.2 here last year, the second-best test in the venue's CCI4*-L history and the horse's personal best. They also led the dressage here in 2022. Their 6RA is 29.9.
Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Connor have the sixth-best 6RA, 29.0. His best test at four-star level is 26.4, in the Tryon CCI4*-L in May.
6RA: the average of a horse's last six international dressage tests, at any level. Lower is better.
Expected: the EquiRatings model's predicted dressage score for this competition.
PB: personal best: the lowest international dressage score the horse has recorded with its current rider, at any level.
Dressage score: judges' marks converted into penalties. Lower is better, and the score carries through to the end of the competition.
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