World Cup Dressage Final 2026: Becky Moody unbeatable, Moritz Treffinger convincing and Raphael Netz' Dieudonné shows nerves of steel
Becky Moody wins the Grand Prix at the 2026 World Cup Final, Moritz Treffinger sixth, bad luck for Raphael Netz
from Jan Tönjes 
Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, winner of the Grand Prix at the 2026 World Cup Final. Photo: FEI/Shannon Brinkman Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, the winners of the Grand Prix at the 2026 World Cup Dressage Final, have known each other literally from the Dante Weltino son’s first breath. The bay was born to the 46-year-old from Yorkshire. Today, they travel the world together, including the Olympic freestyle final.
With a score of 76.761 percent, the pair clearly came out on top of the competition. The start of the test was still a little cautious. The right traversal was less cadenced than the one to the left. The pair showed a good backwards movement, but the impression that the bay looked a little tired remained. After a strong walk with just over a hoof width, but relaxed, and a good collected walk, the second piaffe was a little more flowing than the first.
“My pony was a legend”
The mighty bay completed the two-up changes with a calm tail, but should have remained straight in the body. Energy then flared up in a strong canter. One would have liked the single changes to be more generous in the canter jump. The way the 46-year-old performed the pirouettes was the absolute highlight of the test.
“My pony was a total legend,” beamed Becky Moody. She praised the atmosphere in the Dickies Arena. “Someone shouted ‘we love your outfit’ as we rode in – focus, focus is what I was thinking.” And it worked. Even if the final sparkle wasn’t there today, the Brit promises to go one better in the freestyle final: “We love our freestyles and the audience will probably be even more enthusiastic”.
Christian Simonson – Second place for the USA
The new superstar combination from the USA, Christian Simonson and Indian Rock, started with 46 percent. The stallion, who was ridden by Emmelie Scholtens (NED) in the Olympic Final in Paris 2024, stepped backwards at the salute. The stallion is impressive, but this should not hide certain deficits. In the trot extensions, Indian Rock only stepped over one hoof, if at all. The black stallion often swung out higher with his right front leg than his left in all two-beat exercises. Especially when he became a little “passagy” in the collected trot.
Beautiful riding with “Rocky”
Christian Simonson, who is trained by Olympic rider Adrienne Lyle, sits very nicely on the horse. He endeavored to present the KWPN stallion with a light contact, which he succeeded in doing throughout. The pair scored over 74 percent before canter. This is where the finetuning was sometimes lacking. The black stallion became crooked on the diagonal in the strong canter, which was ridden rather under speed. Simonson made one mistake in the zig-zag traversal. With a score of 75.413 percent, he did not quite match the scores he had already achieved in the USA. But he could still shine. And rightly so! “Riding among the people I have always looked up to and admired in my young career” is something very special for him.
And Indian Rock’s owner, milk pump millionaire Heidi Humphries, who is also a sponsor of the World Cup Dressage Final, had to wipe away tears of emotion during the presentation ceremony.
Patrik Kittel finishes third
The Swedish rider Patrik KitteI has already won the World Cup Final once with the Swedish gelding Touchdown. That was in Riyadh in 2024. The start of the generally very controlled round was a little jerky. The halt to the salute was unsteady, the trot traversal to the right clearly unbalanced in the front leg. The trot to the left was more even. Touchdown completed the strong trot with little overstepping.
The once-licensed Swede, who has been a gelding for a long time, showed the first piaffe as we know it from the Quaterback son: swaying and clearly too wide in the hind leg. The second piaffe went better. In the last one, the tendency to search for balance by stepping wide was more clearly recognizable.
The pair were able to increase their percentages in the canter tour, although the single changes could have been even straighter. Patrik Kittel divided his routes with routine and did not lose any points here. He finished third with 72.869 percent.
Ecuador causes a surprise
Julio Mendoza Loor provided the first surprise of the 2026 World Cup Dressage Final in Fort Worth. With the 15-year-old Jewel’s Goldstrike, the Ecuadorian, who grew up in Quito, came fourth with a smooth 72 percent. His Dutch chestnut, a Bretton Woods son, is a horse with a lot of talent for piaffe and passage. The pair performed these routinely.
Mendoza Loor has been living in the USA for some time now. The pair were the first starters to ride into the Dickies Arena, which was moderately crowded – but that was to be expected with 14,000 seats. “My main aim was to ride a clear test,” said the rider, who gave himself a belated birthday present with the high placing: Two days ago, he had celebrated his 47th birthday in Fort Worth. “I cried like a baby when I rode out. Erst is the horse of my life. A horse that always wants to give more and more. He was born to go Grand Prix”.
The horse with the front leg
Sandra Sysojeva (POL) and Maxima Bella began with a strong trot, in which the black mare’s trademark, maximum shoulder freedom with a high front leg, was the first sign. However, the hind hooves hardly followed the tracks of the front hooves. A highlight were the passages and the piaffe, which were shown absolutely on the spot, sometimes not quite supple in the hind leg. But the mare also impressed in the strong walk, striding relaxed and in the collected walk clearly set off and 100 percent secure in time. At times, especially on the left hand, one would have wished for a smoother and more natural position and bend.
The Millennium daughter lost points in the canter tour. It may be due to the mare’s low back that the canter jumps simply do not have enough volume, which was also reflected in the quality of the series changes. And the pirouettes would also have been more dynamic in the clear jump of the outside hind leg around the inside. In the last piaffe, the mare faltered, which resulted in a disruption of the rhythm. 71.696 percent meant fifth place
Sixth place for Moritz Treffinger
After the first half, Moritz Treffinger and Fiderdance were still in second place. The pair received 71.109 percent from the jury. It was a test in which the youngest rider in the field (22), who is at home at Bonhomme Stud(click here for the home story), always had the chestnut well in front of the aids so that the stallion was never too tight. There were no major mistakes that depressed the marks, but rather a few minor imprecisions. This began with the Fidertanz son resting behind when halting before backing up. Not all flying canter changes in the series were clearly executed. But these were the more expensive mistakes.
The pirouettes were a highlight – well centered – and the transitions into the piaffe, the in and out, were also fluent and safe. In the end, the pair came sixth.
Dieudonné makes big eyes
Raphael Netz and DSP Dieudonné had hit the jackpot – they were the last combination to enter the arena. Actually a starting position that one would wish for. The handsome black horse had to step in at short notice for the experienced Great Escape Camelot. He rode him three times before taking off, before that the Dante Weltino son had a break, Raphael Netz revealed in the podcast TELL ME ABOUT THE HORSE.
Tension again and again
The pair started with good crosses in the trot traverses, but Dieudonné was clearly impressed by the atmosphere and restless in his mouth. He showed his tongue once and then had to sort himself out again. The perfect halt before the somewhat hasty backwards movement gave rise to the hope that “Dieu” would now have collected himself. Although the first piaffe was slightly supportive on the forehand, it was still better than many piaffe in the World Cup competitions during the indoor season. There was no mistaking the tension in the collected walk. “Dieu” looked towards the stands.
A highlight was the second piaffe, really well executed with very good transitions. Perhaps the best piaffe the stallion has ever shown in a test. However, there were still slight moments of tension at the beginning of the canter. Netz tried to convey security to his horse with a calm, deep seat. The two-in-hand changes were successful. However, the zig-zag traversals also reflected the uncertainty that was still present. And also in the last canter jump in the right pirouette. The quality of the horse then came into its own once again in the final passage on the centerline. But more than 67.89 percent – with scores between 66 and 71.196 percent – were not on the scoreboard in the end, twelfth place.
The results can be found here.
The freestyle takes place on Saturday evening in Fort Worth. If you want to watch it live, you should set your alarm for 2 a.m. on Sunday.
Podcast tips
ERZÄHL MIR WAS VOM VFERD, the podcast with Anja Nehls and Jan Tönjes, dealt with the World Cup Final in three episodes.
“Company World Cup with Raphael Netz” – once Upper Bavaria-Texas and back
