Tracy Fenney (USA) put the finishing touch on an incredible 2026 Summer Series with one final Saturday night Grand Prix victory at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala (USA). Thirty-five star-studded horse-and-rider combinations representing 15 nations gathered under the lights in the WEC Grand Arena for the $150,000 CSI3* LeMieux Grand Prix. In the end, Fenney and Davenport Farms’ MTM Pablo (Perigueux x Contendro I) proved unbeatable, securing Fenney’s ninth Grand Prix victory of the circuit at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC).
FEI Level IV course designer Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) set a complex and beautifully adorned track that tested combinations from start to finish. An even 10 pairs managed to advance to the jump-off, but only four ultimately produced double-clear efforts.
Anna Christina Gansauer (ECU) was the first athlete to jump double-clear, guiding Loyalton (Carambole x Onze Fons) to a fault-free effort in 46.69 seconds. Several combinations followed with quicker times but fell victim to a rail before Bliss Heers (USA) entered the arena aboard Bridgeside Farms L.L.C.’s Christian’s Cash (Christian 25 x Cash And Carry). Heers and the 11-year-old Holsteiner stallion delivered a clear round in 45.26 seconds to take over the lead.
Fenney entered the jump-off aboard MTM Pablo debating her approach, but ultimately decided to stick with the strategy that had served her so well throughout the summer.
“I was going through my head debating, ‘Should I just be normal and get a nice ribbon?’ Then I thought, ‘That’s not my style.’ My style is just to go for it and hopefully be fast enough, and if I did have a jump down, I would still get a good ribbon,” Fenney shared. “He was spot on.”
Fenney and the 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding flew around the short course, doing exactly what they had done all circuit long. The pair stopped the clock in 39.38 seconds, nearly six seconds faster than the leading time, and proved impossible to catch.
With MTM Pablo’s natural footspeed, Fenney has learned that less is often more. “He just rises to the occasion every time,” she expressed. “His feet are so fast, he just needs time to take into consideration that the jump is there, and he can do it. The nicer, slower and calmer I am, the better, because he does the speed part so quickly.”
The victory marked Fenney’s ninth Grand Prix win of the 2026 Summer Series, capping an unforgettable circuit that also included victories in the USHJA International Hunter Derby and the 3’6”-3’9” Hunter Derby in the WEC Stadium.
“I just can’t even believe what a circuit it has been. It’s absolutely incredible,” Fenney said. “You really take it week by week and class by class. A lot of times you say, ‘No one knows who won the last class,’ so you have to keep going and try to keep up with it. It’s been absolutely so fun.”
Samuel Parot (CHI) came the closest to catching Fenney, piloting Ilan Ferder’s 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding Chrystal Blue (Chacco-Blue x Calvaro F.C.) to a speedy, fault-free effort in 41.13 seconds to secure second place. Heers and Christian’s Cash ultimately rounded out the podium in third.
