The Defending Champion Is In

Martin won both titles in 2025. He took the inaugural Series on 260 qualifier points, then won the Final with Miks Master C on 28.7. Miks Master C does not return. Martin defends with Luke 140 and Fetiche Des Rouges.

Luke 140 comes in off a win. He took the CCI4*-S at The Fork at Tryon on September 11, his first run of 2026. The 15-year-old had been out after colic surgery and a long rehab. Martin led the dressage on 26.7 and jumped clear inside the time in the show jumping. Nobody made the cross country optimum time, and Luke 140 finished on 40.3 with 13.6 time penalties, just ahead of Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Double Sixteen.

He has won at this level before. His two CCI4*-L wins came at Galway Downs in 2020 and the Horse Park of New Jersey in 2021.

Fetiche Des Rouges, known at home as Radish, makes his CCI4*-L debut. Aoife Clark produced the 11-year-old, and Laura Collett rode him while Clark was injured. He has been with Martin since the start of 2024. He was seventh at Bouckaert International in March for 20 Series points. That score dropped out of Martin's best six when Luke 140 won The Fork. He was second at Bromont in June, then finished 13th at The Fork after 20 cross country jumping penalties.

The fans will be glad Martin made it. Team Timmy, less so. Last year came down to 0.4. Will Coleman & Off The Record scored 25.1 in the dressage, the best test in the venue's CCI4*-L history. They made the time cross-country and led going into Sunday. One rail dropped them to second on 29.1, and Martin went clear to win.

Off The Record, Timmy to his connections, is back. He went into last year's Final as joint favorite in the EquiRatings Prediction Centre, level with Miks Master C on 19%. The early look for 2026 makes him outright favorite on 28%. Smith & Danito are second on 22%, and Martin & Luke 140 third on 19%.

Off The Record is the highest-rated horse in the field on 793 Elo, 113 points clear of Luke 140. The favorite and the champion meet again, with a different horse under the champion.

Tamie Smith cut it almost as fine. Her entry went in on Monday night. She arrives with the 2026 Series already won and with Danito, who has won two Series Qualifiers this year. He took the CCI4*-S at Tryon in May, where his 19.5 dressage set up a finishing score of 27.9 and an HPR of 98. He won again at Twin Rivers Fall International in September.

The 17-year-old averages 25.9 in the dressage across his last six tests, and only one horse in the field averages lower. He has been second at five-star level, at Maryland in 2022. Smith won here that same year with Solaguayre California.

Thirty-seven combinations are entered. Thirty started last year. The Final runs October 8 to 11 in Leesburg.