Andrew Hoy of Australia, the three-time Olympic team gold medalist and individual silver medalist in 2000, guided Mr. Pracatan to the best dressage score today, Aug. 12, at the FEI Eventing World Cup Final in Malmö, Sweden. Placed first by two of the three judges (and second by the third), Hoy and Mr. Pracatan scored 39.3 penalties.

That score gives them a cushion of 2 seconds on cross-country over fellow Australian Clayton Fredericks, on Ben Along Time, and the Thursday leader, Pia Pantsu of Finland on Karuso. Fredericks and Pantsu each scored 40.4 penalties.

The judges—Gillian Rolton, Christoph Hess and Anne-Mette Binder—placed Pantsu third, second and second. But they didn\’t agree on Frederick and Ben Along time, placing the pair first, fifth and third.

Robyn Fisher, on Le Samurai, is the best-placed American, in ninth (49.6). Heidi White, on Northern Spy, is 13th (50.0); Jan Thompson, on Task Force, is 22nd (56.1); Lauren Whitlock, on Kipling, is 31st (63.7); and Jessica Heidemann, on French Twist, is 35th (69.1). Carl Bouckaert, of Belgium and Georgia, and Welton Molecule are 15th (51.5); and Canadians Hawley Bennett and Livingstone are 25th (57.8).

The day\’s biggest surprise is that Phillip Dutton and Nova Top scored 57.4 penalties to place well back in 24th. Nova Top, Dutton\’s mount in the 2004 Olympics, scored 51.2 penalties on his way to finishing tied for fourth at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in May. The World Cup is a short-format four-star, which makes it unlikely Dutton will be able to make up the 18-point deficit between himself and his Australian teammate on Saturday\’s cross-country course.

Hoy is probably looking over his shoulder at British superstar William Fox-Pitt, 6.2 points back in seventh on the experienced Ballincola, and at Australian Olivia Bunn, 10.3 points behind on GV Top Of The Line, tied for ninth with Fisher.