Tom McEwen and JL Dublin have taken the provisional individual lead at the FEI Eventing World Championship Aachen 2026, where Great Britain and New Zealand ended a fiercely competitive opening day of Dressage locked together at the top of the team standings.
There could hardly be less between the leading nations after the opening exchanges of the FEI Eventing World Championship in Aachen. With the first half of the field having completed their Dressage tests, Great Britain and New Zealand sit together on 55.9 penalties, while hosts Germany are within touching distance in third on 59.9.
At the centre of Britain’s strong start was Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. The experienced combination produced a polished test inside Stadium 2 to finish on 26.6 penalties, enough to take the overnight individual lead and edge 0.6 penalties ahead of New Zealand’s Jonelle Price and Senor Crocodillo.
“Dubs always delivers. I’m really, really pleased with him,” said McEwen, whose performance gave Britain exactly the start they needed to their World Championship campaign.
Gemma Stevens and Flash Cooley then added another valuable British score of 29.3. Together, the two performances put Great Britain on 55.9, but any hope of establishing an early cushion was quickly answered by an equally impressive start from New Zealand.
Price and Senor Crocodillo produced a personal best of 27.2, the second-best Championship Dressage score of Price’s career, while Clarke Johnstone and Rocket Man became the first combination of the day to break the 30-penalty barrier with 28.7.
By the close of play, there was quite literally nothing separating the two nations. Price admitted that Senor Crocodillo had delivered more than she had expected.
“He’s a quiet achiever, this guy,” she said. “He’s just such a trier and over the last couple of years we’ve been able to really start solidly building a test, so it was pretty cool to come out and show him at his best.
“If I broke 30, I was pretty happy, so to be comfortably shy of that was probably above expectation.”
France’s Alexis Goury and Je’vall also made their presence felt, scoring 28.5 to slot into provisional third individually behind McEwen and Price.
A first look at the test heading to LA28
There was another reason Thursday’s Dressage carried particular interest. Aachen provided the first competitive outing for the Olympic Short Test that will be used at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
With movements and transitions arriving in quick succession, there is little time for either horse or rider to reset if something begins to unravel. Yet the early evidence suggested the world’s best combinations were adapting quickly.
“Everything happens pretty fast,” explained Johnstone. “But if your horse can do all the things, then it’s actually a really fun test to ride.”
McEwen was similarly positive and, perhaps ominously for Britain’s rivals, believes there are more strong British performances to come.
“It’s a really good test, and you can see people are performing it really well,” he said. “I think on Friday, especially hopefully with the Brits, you’re going to see some really good tests delivered.”
History made for Turkey
While attention naturally centred on the battle at the top, another performance carried significance far beyond the leaderboard.
Kumru Say and Baladin de l’Ocean LA became the first Turkish Eventing combination ever to compete at a senior global championship, completing their test on 38.7 penalties.
Turkey had never previously been represented in Eventing at either an Olympic Games or FEI World Championships. The achievement comes only a year after Say and Baladin de l’Ocean LA became the country’s first combination to compete at an FEI Eventing European Championship at Blenheim.
“It’s a privilege just to be here and ride down that centre line. It’s what we all dream of as children, and I’m delighted I get to do it today,” said Say.
Having produced Baladin de l’Ocean LA through the levels herself, often without the support structure available to athletes from the larger Eventing nations, Say described their partnership simply: “He’s a horse I rely on. He’s not the biggest in scope or stride, but he’s just there for you. He’s all heart.”
Half the field, and plenty of firepower, still to come
For all the excitement of Britain’s opening day, nobody will be getting comfortable just yet.
Another 44 combinations are still to ride on Friday and many of the combinations expected to challenge for the World Championship medals have yet to enter the arena. With just four penalties covering Great Britain and New Zealand in joint first and Germany in third, the leaderboard could look very different by the time the Dressage phase reaches its conclusion.
Among Friday’s most eagerly awaited combinations will be Germany’s Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH, backed by a home crowd and carrying an extraordinary Championship Dressage record.
The 18-year-old gelding is the only horse to have led a World Championship after Dressage more than once, first with Julia Krajewski at Tryon in 2018 and then with Jung at Pratoni in 2022.
For now, though, it is McEwen and JL Dublin who have set the standard, while Great Britain and New Zealand head into day two with absolutely nothing between them.
Dressage resumes at 09:30 CEST on Friday, when the remaining 44 combinations will have their opportunity to reshape the leaderboard before the Championship moves on to its next phase.
Feature image: Tom McEwen (GBR) riding JL DublinFEI Eventing World Championship, Aachen (GER) 2026. Dressage Team & Individual. DHL-Prize© FEI/Leanjo de Koster
