WELLINGTON, Fla.--Meagan Davis on Toronto Lightfoot had her fourth win of the year in the CDI4* Grand Prix, Endel Otis on Bohemian won the 3* Grand Prix and U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Adrienne Lyle won the CDI1* FEI Prix St. Georges in her international debut on Hussmanns Topgun on Thursday, Feb. 26 at the Global Dressage Festival.
Megan Davis on Toronto Lightfoot (Photo by Centre Line Media)Davis scored 72.108%, another new personal best, in the Grand Prix.
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén, Sweden’s seven-time Olympian, finished second on Hyatt.
Three of the judges placed Silfvén first, but her total score of 71.544% left her second.
Ashley Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana was third with 68.478%.
Davis has been riding Toronto Lightfoot since finding him at Helgstrand Dressage in Wellington in 2022, and moved him up to CDI grand prix in September 2024.
He is the 36-year-old rider’s first and only senior international horse.
“Today, we had true power in the test,” said Davis, who spends summers in Saugerties, N.Y., and winters in Loxahatchee, Fla. “It was exciting to feel those hind legs up and ready underneath my seat bones; whenever I asked, there was more power. Every time we enter that ring, it’s about figuring out how we add the next component. Today we had the energy, and we had the softness over the topline, which is what we’ve been going for the whole season.
“TORONTO can be a little looky, but we’ve found that when he’s up in a nice frame, he’s ready for action and follows the lead that I give him, which is super,” said Davis. “This is definitely one of my biggest wins, and it means a lot because I love the Derby, it used to be across the street from our house."
Adrienne Lyle on Hussmans Topgun (Photo by Centre Line Media)“He gets all the things that any horse could ever want to feel his best,” she said. “We do his sport innovations: the magnetic blanket, vibrating blanket. He does not want for anything, which I think is necessary for a top athlete.”
Davis would like to make her debut on a U.S. Nations Cup team this year, while her biggest goal is to get onto the squad of U.S. riders who travel to Europe to compete in the summer.
Endel Ots on Bohemian, with whom he was selected as the reserve for the U.S. team for the Paris 2024 Olympics, won the CDI3* Grand Prix with a score of 69.261%.
The top three in the Grand Prix were separated by just 0.34 percentage points between them, and there was less than two percentage points between first and seventh places.
Christian Simonson, who was the winner for two of the judges, placed second on Fleau De Baian on 69.065%, and Tina Konyot finished hird with 68.913% on Grover.
Lyle on Hussmanns Topgun won the CDI1* FEI Prix St. Georges with 71.872%.
Until now, Topgun had only shown nationally, albeit with consistently high scores.
Topgun got high marks for his canter work, though a hint of a jog in the extended walk, which carries a doubling coefficient, was costly.
