Twelve qualifiers in. Here's what's happened so far.

The 2026 Series actually began back in the fall of 2025, with Lucienne Bellissimo & Dyri winning Qualifier 1 at Bouckaert and Will Coleman & Diabolo taking Qualifier 2 at TerraNova. If you missed those, the full story is here.

Here's everything that's happened in 2026.

Qualifier 3: Bouckaert (March 5)

Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Connor

Pamukcu built the win slowly: fourth after dressage, third after show jumping, then fractionally faster cross-country than the combinations ahead. HSH Connor's ninth consecutive show jumping clear (has since gone on to a 10th), stretching back to 2023. It was Pamukcu's eighth CCI4*-S career win (now has had nine) across five different horses. She also placed fourth and sixth with her other two rides, opening the season on 80 points in a tie with Lucienne Bellissimo.

Qualifier 4: Carolina International (March 19) 

Tamie Smith & Lillet 3

Smith swept the weekend: three different classes, three different wins. Lillet 3 came closest to the cross-country time to win a big and competitive 4*-S. It was their fifth win together, and a real telling of their prestige ahead of Kentucky. Pamukcu's second and seventh-place finish across two rides added 65 points in a single weekend, moving her to 145 and 50 clear at the top. 

Qualifier 5: TerraNova (March 26)

Colleen Loach & FE Golden Eye

After a year away from international competition, FE Golden Eye returned with a 2-for-2 record: a 3*-S win at Bouckaert, and then the TerraNova 4*-S qualifier. Both times adding nothing but a few cross-country time penalties to his dressage score. It was Loach's first result on the Open leaderboard, and with 26 starters in the field she banked 50 points rather than the 40 that one fewer starter would have produced.

Qualifier 6: Galway Downs (March 27)

Tommy Greengard & Balladeer Kilbrickens Lad

Greengard did earn the 75 points predicted, just not quite how anyone expected. That's Me Z, the weekend favorite, finished second after activating a pin on cross-country day despite posting the fastest XC round. Instead, four-star debutant Balladeer Kilbrickens Lad took the win on a composed three-phase performance. Greengard manager a 75-point haul in his first Open qualifier of 2026.

Qualifier 7: Stable View (April 3)

Lucienne Bellissimo & Dyri

Bellissimo led from start to finish, finishing on her dressage score of 27.7 to become just the fourth combination in Stable View history to achieve it across nearly 400 starters. She also finished ninth with Kitsch Couture HPK. The gap from first to second on the Series leaderboard shrank from 50 points to five overnight. Pamukcu 145, Bellissimo 140.

Qualifier 8: Twin Rivers (April 9)

Karen O'Neal & Clooney 14

James Alliston had won six consecutive runnings of Twin Rivers. Without Alliston's entry in 2026, O'Neal and Clooney 14 wrote their names into its history instead, leading from dressage through to the finish. It was Clooney 14's third CCI4* win. The leaderboard at the top was unchanged: Pamukcu 145, Bellissimo 140.

Qualifier 9: Ocala (April 16)

Tamie Smith & Jump To Day D

Smith and Jump To Day D (in just his second four-star) won the Ocala CCI4*-S and did it with an FOD, finishing on their dressage score of 31.5. Just four combinations in the event's history had ever achieved it and Smith became the first at the current location of the event. She also placed fifth with Spiro P on his four-star debut.

Qualifier 10: Fair Hill (April 17)

Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Double Sixteen

Pamukcu and HSH Double Sixteen made the Fair Hill cross-country time (only the second combination in the venue's history to do so across 143 starters) and finished on their dressage score of 37.7. After a weekend that produced an FOD in both Ocala and Fair Hill, Pamukcu moved to 185. Boyd Martin's second and third place finishes at Fair Hill moved him to 160.

Qualifier 11: Kentucky (April 22)

Tamie Smith & Lillet 3 (again)

Tamie Smith entered as a heavy favorite across her three rides, but it was the Carolina qualifier winner, Lillet 3, who came out on top. The fastest cross-country round of the day, followed by the only clear inside the time in the show jumping. Back-to-back qualifier wins for Smith, who moved to 205 points and into the Series lead for the first time, 20 clear of Pamukcu.

Qualifier 12: Tryon (May 6)

Tamie Smith & Danito

Three in a row. Smith and Danito posted a 19.5 dressage score: a new all-time Series record across 607 starts, and the best test recorded internationally at any level in 2026 from over 5,000 FEI tests worldwide. The Tryon venue record of 24.6 had stood since 2020. Smith beat it by more than five penalties and held on to win despite a cross-country course that has never seen a clear inside the time.

Twelve qualifiers covered. A leaderboard that has changed hands twice. The Series resumes at Qualifier 13 at Aspen Farms on June 11th.

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