U.S. Team Wins Nations Cup Gold in Wellington After Five-Year Drought
By Alice Collins for Wellington International
Wellington, Fla. – March 19, 2026—The Modon FEI Nations Cup™ contest went down to the wire on the opening day of Week 11 at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL—the last CDI of the three-month 2026 winter circuit. The U.S. team, led by Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig, came out on top by the slimmest of margins.
For the past five years, team Germany has dominated this competition, and until the very last rider, they topped the leaderboard. The experienced home rider Anna Marek was the only one who could break the German stranglehold. After a mistake-free test, her score tipped the balance in the U.S.’s favor, handing the four riders a historic victory in the opening competition of the 2026 FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ series—the only leg held outside Europe.
Three teams battled it out for the medals, with less than 1.5 percentage points spanning the podium finishers. The U.S. team concluded on a total of 205.631, Germany had to settle for silver on 205.043, and Canada scooped bronze with 204.196. The last time the U.S. team won the Wellington Nations Cup leg was in 2020, when the format still allowed for a mixture of grand prix and small tour combinations.
The U.S. result was particularly notable given that two of the riders— Meagan Davis and Jordan LaPlaca—were making their senior team debuts. Both the trailblazer Ashley Holzer and anchor rider Anna Marek received late call-ups after the withdrawal of two selected combinations. Holzer clocked up 67.652% on Hawtins San Floriana, setting a solid bar for the team, while Marek notched 69.435% on her sister-in-law Cynthia Davila’s 16-year-old gelding Fayvel (Zizi Top x Houston) to lock in the home side’s victory.
“Christine chose me to go last, which is always a big honor,” said Marek, who is based near Ocala, Fla. “In a team competition, there’s even more added pressure because I want to have a good ride for my team. I didn’t know what score I needed for gold and, honestly, it wouldn’t have really mattered. I just went in there wanting to ride the best test I could.
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U.S. Team Wins Nations Cup Gold in Wellington After Five-Year Drought – Wellington International
