The Highest-Rated Performances of 2026 So Far

The best eventing performance of 2026 so far belongs to Tom McEwen & JL Dublin. Their wire-to-wire win at Kronenberg in March scored a High Performance Rating (HPR) of 107, the highest mark posted at four-star or five-star anywhere in the world this year.

Here is where the season’s ten best runs sit, to the end of May.

Top 10 Performances of 2026 by HPR (4* and 5*)

#	Rider & Horse	Event	HPR
1	Tom McEwen JL Dublin	Kronenberg CCI4*-S	107
2	Ros Canter Lordships Graffalo	Badminton CCI5*-L	106
3	Laura Collett London 52	Belsay CCI4*-S	105
4	Oliver Townend Cooley Rosalent	Burnham Market CCI4*-S	105
5	Gemma Stevens Flash Cooley	Kronenberg CCI4*-S	103
6	Bubby Upton Cola	Kronenberg CCI4*-S	103
7	Michael Jung fischerChipmunk FRH	Marbach CCI4*-S	103
8	Will Coleman Diabolo	Lexington CCI5*-L	102
9	Caroline Powell Greenacres Special Cavalier	Kronenberg CCI4*-S	101
10	Caroline Pamukcu HSH Blake	Lexington CCI5*-L	101

Data to end of May 2026. CCI4* and CCI5* only.

Ten performances, ten different riders. No combination has cracked the top ten twice. The depth at the top of the sport this season is spread across the whole field, not concentrated in two or three yards.

The riders vary but the flag does not. Great Britain holds all of the top six spots, highlighting the extraordinary depth of British eventing at the highest level.

There is a thread running through the top three. McEwen & JL Dublin, Canter & Lordships Graffalo, and Collett & London 52 were the three combinations that won team gold for Great Britain at the Paris Olympics, the nation’s record fifth eventing title. The same three sit one, two, and three on the 2026 performance list. With a World Championships on the horizon, this is very likely the spine of the British team again.

Germany breaks the run at seven, where Olympic champions Michael Jung & fischerChipmunk FRH scored 103 at Marbach. The United States takes eighth and tenth through Will Coleman & Diabolo and Caroline Pamukcu & HSH Blake, the two best five-star runs from a home Kentucky. Caroline Powell & Greenacres Special Cavalier fly the New Zealand flag in ninth.

The three best performances of the year, and the numbers behind them.

Tom McEwen & JL Dublin posted a HPR of 107 to win at Kronenberg in March, the best eventing performance recorded anywhere this year. It is the highest HPR of McEwen's career. It edges his 2019 Pau five-star win on Toledo de Kerser, also a 107, by decimals.

They finished on their dressage score (FOD) of 23.5 but the score alone does not explain the rating. The field does. Kronenberg drew a field strength of 681 the strongest of any competition in 2026, even ahead of Badminton's five-star. HPR rewards quality of opposition, so winning a field that deep lifts the number beyond what a routine four-star victory would. As a result, three of the top 10 performances of the year by HPR were recorded at Kronenberg.

Ros Canter & Lordships Graffalo led Badminton from the start to finish to win by 8.2 penalties. In 77 years no horse had won the event more than twice. 'Walter' now stands alone on three, clear of Supreme Rock, Sir Wattie, and Great Ovation.

Despite earning a huge HPR of 106, this was actually Lordships Graffalo's lowest-rated CCI5* victory from his five wins at the level. His best came at the exceptionally wet Badminton in 2023, where he posted a HPR of 111 after completely obliterating his opposition.

The European Champions Laura Collett & London 52 won Belsay on 28.5 for a HPR of 105, the third-best performance of the year. It was 'Dan's' first international run of 2026, and he came out at full power.

The win came down to a head-to-head with Ros Canter & Izilot DHI. Izilot led the dressage but London 52 took it back on the cross country clock. He added 4.4 time penalties compared to Izilot's 10.8, a 16 second swing that turned into the win. Izilot finished third.