In a dream scenario for the Swedish contingent, defending champion Henrik von Eckermann and his great gelding King Edward pipped compatriot Peder Fredricson and Catch Me Not S to win the opening competition at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday.

It was like deja vu for von Eckermann, who also won the first class on his way to victory in Omaha last year. 

“I have to say this round was 10 times better than Omaha’s round,” he said. “It felt much, much better. It’s funny isn’t it, the result can be the same, but the feeling can be completely different.”

With his time of 66.26 seconds converted into points, he goes into Thursday’s second test with a two-point advantage over runner-up Fredricson, while Germany’s Hans-Dieter Dreher is just one point further adrift in third and Frenchman Julien Epaillard and America’s Kent Farrington share fourth place. There’s only a whisper between them, but the defending champion is holding all the cards right now.

German course designer Frank Rothenberger set a track that British star Scott Brash described as clever. “I don’t think it’s massive, but it’s tricky,” said Brash, who crossed the finish in 73.73 seconds on Hellow Valentino, a time that would eventually leave them 11^th. “There’s plenty in there, and for experienced horses there’s an inside turn to the wall [at fence 8], but it’s quite tight, so even for experienced horses there are question marks. But it’s a fair course, and the course-builder has done a great job.” 

Epaillard set the first real target, despite lowering the vertical at fence five with the 11-year-old mare Dubai Du Cedre. Only the super-fast Frenchman, who took individual bronze at last summer’s European championships, could still be out in front after adding the 3-second penalty for a fence down to earn a time of 69.69 seconds. In an extraordinary turn of fate however, Farrington matched that precisely with a great clear round from his 10-year-old mare Toulayna just a few horses later.

But the American pair were immediately followed by Germany’s Dreher and his magnificent grey gelding Elysium, who galloped home more than a second quicker with a brilliant run to take a new lead. Elysium was the first to do just six strides from the penultimate vertical to the final oxer. 

Watch von Eckermann’s winning round here, courtesy of FEI.tv:

While Farrington led the U.S. contingent, Skylar Wireman wasn’t far behind. The 19-year-old from California finished 10^th aboard Tornado (72.49), followed by Jill Humphrey and Chromatic BF in 12^th (73.79). Further down the standings, Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue slotted into 25^th (80.56), and Sophia Siegel and A-Girl were 32^nd (100.40) in the field of 34. France’s Kevin Staut was eliminated after a miscommunication where he and Visconti Du Telman jumped a standard then circled back for the fence. Japan’s Shinichiro Sugiyama and Rising Sun also were eliminated. See complete results here and faults converted to points here.

The competition continue Thursday with Final 2 at 6:50 p.m. local time (11:50 a.m. Eastern Time). The field will go in reverse order of standing, with Siegel and A-Girl in the ring first.

Fry And Everdale Rule Dressage Day 1

Reigning individual world champion Charlotte Fry secured a clear victory in the Grand Prix to get the FEI Dressage World Cup Final underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, earlier in the day.

Partnering her Tokyo Olympic ride, the 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion Everdale (Lord Leatherdale—Aliska K, Negro), the British rider was top choice of all seven judges when scoring 75.38 to top the podium. Sweden’s Patrik Kittel took second place with Touchdown (73.29) while Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Hors Don Olymbrio finished third (72.90). 

“He loves to go in and show off and loves his job, so it’s an honor to be able to ride him in arenas like this,” Fry said. “It’s pretty special. We make a really good team together because we love events like this. It’s just so much fun for both of us.”

The surprise of the day was the fourth-placed finish for German legend Isabell Werth (72.23), whose test with DSP Quantaz was undermined by costly errors. Kittel admitted he was surprised to finish second after expecting to be knocked down a spot by Werth.

“I’m a bit surprised because I thought, OK, you know The Queen [Werth] is coming,” he said. “But then I saw she had some mistakes, which is a bit unusual for her, and then I got a message that I was second, and of course I was happy about that!”

Watch Fry’s winning test, courtesy of FEI.tv:

Kevin Kohmann was the best of the U.S. contingent, all of whom were making their first World Cup Final start. He finished 10^thaboard Duenensee with a score of 69.67. 

Anna Marek and Fayvel were 13^th (68.35) while Ben Ebeling and Indeed were 15^th (65.14). All three riders made the top-15 cut to appear in the freestyle.

Not moving on to the freestyle will be Moldovan rider Alisa Glinka, who finished 16^th in the Grand Prix with a score of 62.87, and Dutch rider Thamar Zweistra and Hexagon’s Ich Weiss, who were eliminated on the blood rule.

The Grand Prix freestyle will begin at 5:15 p.m. Friday local time (10:15 a.m. Eastern Time) and will be streamed on FEI.tv.

See complete scores from Wednesday’s competition here.