Tamie Smith wins the 2026 US Equestrian Open of Eventing Series
A win and a second place at Twin Rivers Fall International moved Tamie Smith to 265 points with two qualifiers still to run, five clear of the 260 Boyd Martin won the inaugural Series on. These are the six results that built it.
Tamie Smith has officially won the 2026 US Equestrian Open of Eventing. Danito took the CCI4*-S at Twin Rivers Fall International and Spiro P finished second behind him, worth 40 and 35 points on the small qualifier scale. Those two scores replaced a 25 and a 20 on her card and carried her from 235 to 265.
265 is the highest total recorded across the two runnings of the Series. Boyd Martin won the inaugural edition on 260. Two qualifiers remain, Stable View Oktoberfest on September 25 and Woodside Fall International on October 2, but nobody left in the chase can reach her.
Four of her six counting scores were earned on the East Coast, at Carolina International, Ocala International Eventing Festival, the Cosequin Lexington Kentucky CCI4*-S and Tryon International. The two that took her past 260 came at home in California, in her first run on the West Coast all season. Five of the six are qualifier wins.
Three of those wins came at the five qualifiers that drew 26 or more starters and paid 50 points for a win. Smith took Carolina, Kentucky and Tryon. Lucienne Bellissimo won Stable View Spring International and Colleen Loach won The Event at TerraNova. No other rider won more than one of the five.
Here is how the 265 was built, in the order it happened.
Smith swept Carolina in March, three wins across three different classes. Lillet 3 took the CCI4*-S by getting closest to the cross-country time in a big, competitive field, winning on 29.7 from a 24.5 dressage with 1.2 time penalties and one rail. Carolina ran on the large qualifier scale, so the win paid the maximum 50.
Jump To Day D finished sixth in the same class for another 25. That 25 sat on her card for six months and was one of the two scores Twin Rivers finally pushed out.
Smith and Jump To Day D won the Ocala CCI4*-S on their dressage score of 31.5, in only the horse's second start at the level. Four combinations in the event's history had finished on their dressage score, and Smith was the first to do it at the event's current location.
Ocala ran on the small qualifier scale, so a win there is 40 rather than 50. Spiro P was fifth on his four-star debut the same weekend for 20 more. Those 20 points also sat on her scorecard until Twin Rivers.
Smith went to the Kentucky Horse Park with three rides and the highest combined win chance in the field. Lillet 3 was the one who delivered, with the fastest cross-country round of the day followed by the only show jumping clear inside the time. It was Smith's third qualifier win of 2026, just a week after Ocala.
The 50 points moved her to 205 and into the Series lead for the first time, 20 clear of Caroline Pamukcu. She has led ever since.
Smith and Danito opened with 19.5 in the dressage, an all-time Series record and the best international test recorded at any level in 2026 from over 16,000 FEI starts worldwide.
No combination has ever made the cross-country time at Tryon, where a clear round costs around 17.5 time penalties on average. Danito added 8.4, less than half of that, and won on 27.9. It was Smith's fourth qualifier win in seven weeks, and the 50 points took her to 235.
Danito led the dressage on 26.3, then dropped to third with 8 faults in the show jumping. He got it all back in the cross-country phase. His cross-country round was the fastest in the class and added 11.2 time penalties for a winning score of 46.3. Danito had been to Twin Rivers twice before and finished second and third and he now adds a win.
The 40 points displaced the 20 Smith had been carrying from Ocala and moved her from 235 to 255. Neither Caroline Pamukcu nor Lucienne Bellissimo can finish above 235. Danito's win was the result that confirmed the Series.
Danito had the Series confirmed on his own. Spiro P turned it into a record. Second place on the small qualifier scale is worth 35, which displaced the 25 from Carolina and carried Smith from 255 to 265, five clear of the 260 Boyd Martin won the inaugural Series on.
The nine-year-old added 4 show jumping faults and 12.8 cross-country time penalties to a 33.5 dressage to finish 4.8 penalties behind Danito. He was fifth on his four-star debut at Ocala in April, and that result is the 20 Danito's win pushed off the card. He looks to be a future superstar in Tamie Smith's stable and one to watch for the 2027 Series.
Will Coleman on 215 and Boyd Martin on 210 are not entered at either of the two remaining qualifiers, which fixes both totals. That leaves Caroline Pamukcu on 210 and Lucienne Bellissimo on 175, with two rides each at Stable View Oktoberfest this coming weekend.
Stable View Oktoberfest will not have more than 25 starters, which puts it on the small qualifier scale. A win there is worth 40 and second is worth 35. Give either of them both and they land on the same number. Pamukcu's two weakest counting scores are a pair of 25s, so the swap adds 25 and takes her to 235. Bellissimo's are a 10 from Stable View Spring International and a 5 from The Event at TerraNova, so the same result adds 60 and takes her to 235 as well. Only one rider can fill first and second, so these are alternatives rather than a shared outcome.
Woodside Fall International on October 2nd closes the Series and neither of them have entries. That fixes the ceiling at 235 and puts Smith 30 points beyond the best case available to anybody else.
| # | Rider | Earned Points (Best 6) | Total | ||
| 1 |
6/6 completed · Series confirmed
|
505050404035 | 265 | ||
| 2 |
6/6 completed · Not entered, total fixed
|
454540353020 | 215 | ||
| 3 |
6/6 completed · Not entered, total fixed
|
404035353030 | 210 | ||
| 3 |
6/6 completed · Ceiling 235
|
454040352525 | 210 | ||
| 5 |
6/6 completed · Ceiling 235
|
50403535105 | 175 |
|
Series record
265
Five clear of the 260 Boyd Martin won the inaugural Series on, and the highest total across the two runnings.
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Counting scores
5 wins from 6
Five of the six results on Smith's card are qualifier wins, and three of them came at the five legs that paid 50 points for a win.
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The chasing ceiling
235
The highest either Pamukcu or Bellissimo can finish on, with neither entered at Woodside. Thirty short.
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Still on the table
$200,000
The Final purse at Morven Park from October 8 to 11. Series position sets the order of draw and nothing else.
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The Series title comes with a second trophy. The US Equestrian Open Eventing Leading Lady presented by Frank & Eileen goes to the top ranked female rider at the end of qualifying. Smith tops the leaderboard outright, so the same math settles both.
The Series winner takes $25,000, with $15,000 for second and $10,000 for third. Two of those three cheques are still open. Pamukcu and Bellissimo both go to Stable View Oktoberfest on September 25 with real work to do, and Coleman and Martin can only watch their fixed totals.
Smith could have pushed 265 higher at Woodside Fall International on October 2 but she does not have an entry there. The entry that matters more closes tomorrow: the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final at Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials, October 8 to 11, a CCI4*-L for a $200,000 purse. Smith has not declared a horse yet.
The Series leaderboard decides the order of draw at Morven Park and nothing else. Whoever tops it arrives with everything still to prove.
Eighteen qualifiers. Five wins. A record 265. The $200,000 is still to play for.
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