Jordan LaPlaca Tops Epic Debut Season on Gold Play with Individual Gold
By Alice Collins for Wellington International
Wellington, Fla. – March 21, 2026—Jordan LaPlaca threw his arms in the air and hugged Gold Play after their final salute in the Modon FEI Nations Cup CDIO3* Grand Prix Special. He was justifiably delighted with his own and Nancy Huton’s 11-year-old, for the Grey Flanell x Sir Donnerhall II gelding had just sealed a double of gold medals for LaPlaca on the U.S. rider’s senior team debut. Their individual glory followed team gold on Thursday of Week 11 at the 2026 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL.
The jewel in the crown of a breakthrough debut CDI grand prix season, LaPlaca and Gold Play—the youngest horse in the class—set a new personal best of 71% in the Special. Their score relegated the in-form pair of Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu (CAN) and Jill Irving’s 12-year-old Desperado x Jazz gelding, Jaccardo, into the silver medal position on 70.362%.
They were joined on the podium by Anna Marek (USA), whose 68.021% on her sister-in-law Cynthia Davila’s Fayvel earned the bronze. The result was impressive given that Marek and the 16-year-old Zizi Top x Houston gelding were only called up at the last minute to ride in the Nations Cup.
LaPlaca and Gold Play displayed exemplary use of the arena with textbook deep, balanced corners, as well as beautiful piaffe and passage work with seamless gear changes. There was a hiccup in the beginning of the first line of one-time changes, but Gold Play was enjoying the second set down the centerline so much that he decided to add two extra changes. Despite the glitches, the judges awarded plenty of eights, with the high score of 72.553% coming from H judge Susanne Baarup (DEN).
Read more:
Jordan LaPlaca Tops Epic Debut Season on Gold Play with Individual Gold – Wellington International
