By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
OCALA, Florida, May 12, 2026–The top American Grand Prix riders compete head-to-head for the first time in 12 years with the U.S. Grand Prix championships beginning Wednesday at the World Equestrian Center, three months ahead of the World Championships.
Sixteen of the 17 rider and horse combinations from across the country that were invited to compete successfully passed the veterinary examination. The only absent pair was Anna Marek of nearby Dunnellen whose mount, Fayvel, didn’t feel comfortable so she withdrew.
Jane sustained a minor injury but is back in work with owner Alice Tarjan after sustaining a minor injury that led to rider Marcus Orlob withdrawing before invitations were issued. Jane, on the Paris Olympic team, actually finished at the top of the standings of duos that qualified with both Grand Prix and Special results.
Christian Simonson on Indian Rock logged the highest Grand Prix average but was invited with no qualifying Special results after the pair was reserve champion at the World Cup Final in Fort Worth, Texas last month.
The Grand Prix begins at 8 am US Eastern time Wednesday, followed by the Special Thursday and the Freestyle Saturday night.
The last time American Grand Prix combinations competed head-to-head was at Gladstone, New Jersey where Steffen Peters was the winner with Laura Graves on Verdades, a relative unknown partnership at the time, runner-up. The event qualified riders to go to Europe ahead of the Word Equestrian Games in Normandy.
This year, a top group will be selected for a European swing to decide on the team for the World Championships at Aachen, Germany in August.
The pressure is different now: placing in Aachen does not impact the U.S. qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 as the home side is automatically qualified as long as minimum Grand Prix scores of 67% are attained by the deadline of June 11, 2028.
The lineup for the Grand Prix:
| Time | Competitor | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | Jordan LaPlaca (USA) Gold Play | ||||||
| 8:09 | Sarah Tubman (USA) Dow Jones 1 | ||||||
| 8:18 | Katherine Bateson Chandler (USA) Haute Couture | ||||||
| 8:27 | Tina Konyot (USA) Grover | ||||||
| 8:36 | Geñay Vaughn (USA) Gino | ||||||
| 8:45 | Kevin Kohmann (USA) Famous | ||||||
| 8:54 | Christian Simonson (USA) Fleau de Baian | ||||||
| 9:03 | Jodie Kelly-Baxley (USA) Grayton Beach | ||||||
| 9:30 | Ashley Holzer (USA) Hawtins San Floriana | ||||||
| 9:39 | Meagan Davis (USA) Toronto Lightfoot | ||||||
| 9:48 | Ellesse Gundersen (USA) Quintessential 4 | ||||||
| 9:57 | Kasey Perry-Glass (USA) Heartbeat W.P. | ||||||
| 10:06 | Jennifer Williams (USA) Joppe K | ||||||
| 10:15 | Christian Simonson (USA) Indian Rock | ||||||
| 10:24 | Jaclyn Pepper-Millard (USA) Limited Edition | ||||||
| 10:33 | Nora Batchelder (USA) Nova |
