•    Marilyn Payne, Califon, N.J., served as ground jury president for the World Cup Final and was particularly impressed by the caliber of dressage she judged on Friday.
          “None of us had ever seen such quality in all of our judging careers,” Payne said on behalf of her fellow jury members, Jan Lipczynski of Poland and Christina Klingspor of Sweden. “We’ve seen individual rides that good but never at one venue at one time. It was just amazing. I have to say, I judged at the Olympic Games last summer, and this was better.”

•    Kelly Prather, the only other U.S. competitor at Strzegom aside from Buck Davidson, had the longest journey by far to the final. The Bodega, Calif., rider and Ballinakill Glory were 12th after the dressage with a 42.7, but two refusals and some hefty time penalties on cross-country spoiled their hopes for a ribbon in their first international championship. They scored one of only six double-clear show jumping rounds on Sunday, however, to finish 16th.

•    Winner Michael Jung’s horse La Biosthetique-Sam FBW, who also topped the Luhmühlen CCI**** (Germany) in June, is a 9-year-old Baden-Württemberg gelding by Stan The Man. Coincidentally, that stallion also sired another four-star winner—Leslie Law’s 2004 Olympic champion, Shear L’Eau.