VideoGreat Britain holds the lead after dressage in the FEI Eventing World Championships in Aachen, Germany, but the home team isn’t far behind.
The first five individual placings feature German and British riders trading off; Germany’s Julia Krajewski (Uelzener’s Nickel) leads with 22.0 penalties, while Laura Collett and London 52 scored 22.8 penalties for second.
Right behind them is Michael Jung (fischerChipmunk FRH) on 23.0 penalties, and Rosalind Canter (Lordships Graffalo) with 23.4. Yesterday’s dressage leader, Tom McEwen on JL Dublin, is holding fifth place (26.6 penalties).
Those tight scores mean that Great Britain will start tomorrow’s cross country on 72.8 penalties, just 0.8 penalties ahead of Germany (73.6). Behind them—more than 10 penalties behind—France is sitting third on 84.5. The U.S. team is in sixth with 93.2 penalties.
The top-placed U.S. rider, Tamie Smith with Lillet 3 (27.0), is eighth individually, but she’s not competing as part of the four-rider team. The pair topped this spring’s Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S.
“I’m very pleased,” said Smith after her test. “You don’t know what they’re going to do in an atmosphere like that, you know. She was just like a seasoned pro in there. She’s so young and wouldn’t have ever seen something like that.”
See the full team and individual standings.
Not a Dressage Competition
The other two U.S. riders to compete today—Will Coleman on Diabolo and Boyd Martin on Cooley Nutcracker—are 21st and 25th, respectively, after the first phase.
Coleman and Diabolo won this spring’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*, but the rider said he had a difficult time putting the test together like he wanted today.
“I anticipated [Diabolo] going in there and sort of coming up and responding to the crowd, and he just didn’t,” Coelman said. “He was almost a little lazy for bits of his test, and the only place he was sensitive was during the walk. It was a little bit of a hairy walk tour, and I was on eggshells for most of that. We did the best we could. It’s his first championship. He’s a great horse, and hopefully he can have two more good days. That’s all we’re going to focus on now.
“I don’t think it will be a dressage competition,” he added.
Next, attention turns to the cross-country track, set by Giuseppe Della Chiesa with an optimum time of 9 minutes, 50 seconds. Pairs will set out starting at 9:15 a.m. local time (3:15 a.m. Eastern).
“It’s very challenging, I think,” said Martin. “It’s not a real big track, like the classic five stars at Kentucky, Badminton or Burghley—big, big jumps—but this is equally hard if not harder just because of the precision that’s needed with the angles. I rode here for the first time last year, and I was shocked by how tired they get, even though it’s a flat course. The winding and the back and forth is energy zapping. I’m going to have to pace my animal and make sure he has enough juice left at the end. Controlled aggression.”
For More:
- See results, orders of go, and more.
- Read more of our coverage from the 2026 FEI World Championships held in Aachen, Germany, from Aug. 11–23, here.
