BICTON, Great Britain--With a result that bodes well for the future of Eventing in the U.S., a young Ameericfan team finished second to Great Britain in England in the second leg of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup 2026 Series.

Laura Collett of Grat Britain on Hester(Photo by FEI Leslie Law)Great Britain led from start to finish to defend their title at Bicton and win the second leg of the Series on a scoreof 135.6.

In a repeat of 2025’s competition at Bicton, it was the USA who came closest to the British.

The Americans were represented by a team of up-and-coming riders on talented young horses, including Quidley Kellermann on Blakeneys Cruise, Alexandra Knowles riding Montpellier Scais, Tommy Greengard with That’s Me Z and Cassie Sanger with Fernhill Zoro, who finished on a final team score of 182.2.

The relatively inexperienced team at this level showed huge promise to impress Chef d’Equipe Leslie Law.

“This is a developing team, and the competition has been a great experience for everybody,” Law said of the result.

“I have to give a big thank you to the team at Bicton who have done an amazing job in producing good ground. The amount of work and effort that has gone into giving us this event is creditable. We’re really very grateful.”

 

GOING INTO the cross-country phase with an unassailable lead, the British team of Kirsty Chabert and Classic VI, Tom McEwen and Shannondale Arnold, Laura Collett and Hester, and Tom Rowland riding LB Mettaphor all soared round Helen West's cross-country track.

Bicton podium (Photo by Leslie Law)Finishing on a winning score of 135.6, they secured vital points toward their ultimate goal of qualifying for the Series Final at Boekelo (NED) in October.

“Overall, I think it went very well,” Law said of the U.S. team, “We tend to bring Development 25 athletes over for this event, and I think they gained a lot of great team experience this weekend. We have to be happy with the result — to finish second behind a Great Britain team that had two of their Olympic riders, I think that was a very good result overall.”

The team competition started on the second day of dressage on Friday, May 28.

Knowles of Lexington, Ky., led the U.S. effort with the team’s best dressage score of 32.1.

Sanger of Wilmington, Del., posted a 35.4, while Greengard of Petaluma, Calif.,  added a 36.2.

Kellermann of Wimberley, Texas rounded out the team on a 39.5.

In the short-format order of phases, the team competition continued with the show jumping phase, with a challenging track set by Krissy Spiller of Great Britain.

Knowles, Greengard, and Kellermann all were clean within the time allowed, adding nothing to their dressage scores.

Sanger had a rail down that added four penalties, bringing their cumulative score to 39.4 heading into cross country.

On cross country day, the competed over the track designed by Helen West of Great Britain, covering 3,755 meters at a speed of 570 meters per minute with an optimum time of 6 minutes and 35 seconds and featuring 36 jumping efforts.

Knowles delivered a clear cross-country round, adding 18 time penalties for a finish time of 7:20 to close on a final three-phase score of 50.1, leading the U.S. effort start to finish.

Sanger finished on a final score of 64.4, Kellermann completed the track to close on 67.7 and Greengard was eliminated on course and wasf the team’s drop score.

Per Nations Cup format, the team score was calculated from the best three of four combinations.

Competing as an individual outside of the team, Knowles also rode Leo Santos to seventh place, with the combination also serving as an alternate on the 2026 USEF Eventing European Development Tour.

“I’m very happy with the team result,” Chef d’Equipe Richard Waygood said of Great Britain's performance.

“This result was important for us. It’s always great to do well on home soil but we really wanted to win this time as we want to get to Boekelo, and this is a great start to securing our spot.”

A young New Zealand team put in a solid performance to take third place on a day where cross-country results were shifting the leaderboard throughout the competition.

The team of Tayla Mason and E.G. Tiger Chilli, Vicky Browne-Cole riding Cutting Edge, Ginny Thomasen with Katchafire and Abby Jones on Henton Audacious, finished on a score of 199.5.

“They were a young team on inexperienced horses, and I think they did a really good job. The girls have pulled together for this competition and I’m very proud of them,” said Chef d’Equipe Jacky Green.

After a slightly tougher day where the cross-country proved challenging for the Irish team, Molly O’Neill and Muckridge Quick Step, Susannah Berry with John the Bull, Danielle McCormack riding MGH Hildare Harlequin and Padraig McCarthy on MGH Zabaione finished fourth with a score of 309.9.

However, they still earned crucial qualification points to hopefully secure a place at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup 2026 Series Final in Boekelo, Netherlands later this year.