U.S. rider Meagan Davis continued her ground-breaking season on Toronto Lightfoot, seizing her fourth win of the year to date in the Donato Farms CDI4* Grand Prix as last to go in the class of eight. They scored 72.108%, logging yet another new personal best in 2026, an ideal way to herald the eighth week of the 2026 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF), which is Palm Beach Derby week, a show dedicated to the late Mary Anne McPhail.

Photo – Meagan Davis & Toronto Lightfoot. (©Centre Line Media)

Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén, Sweden’s seven-time Olympian and a familiar face at AGDF over the years, finished second with Hyatt, a 14-year-old Apache-sired mare she rides for Lövsta Stuteri. Three of the judges placed the duo first, but their eventual 71.544% meant they had to settle for the runner-up spot. Ashley Holzer (USA) rounded out the top three with 68.478% on her and Diane Fellows’s 14-year-old Hawtins San Floriana (San Amour x Florestan).

First and Only

Meagan Davis & Toronto Lightfoot are presented as winners of the Donato Farms CDI4* Grand Prix. (Photo: ©Centre Line Media)

Davis and Toronto Lightfoot received scores of more than 74% from two experienced judges, Christoph Umbach (LUX) at C, and Germany’s Katrina Wüst at M. Davis has been riding Scott Durkin’s 13-year-old by Totilas since finding him at Helgstrand Dressage in Wellington in 2022, and they stepped up to CDI grand prix in September 2024. He is the 36-year-old rider’s first and only senior international horse.

“Today, we had true power in the test,” said Davis, who spends summers in Saugerties, NY, and winters in Loxahatchee, FL. “It was exciting to feel those hind legs up and ready underneath my seat bones; whenever I asked, there was more power. Every time we enter that ring, it’s about figuring out how we add the next component. Today we had the energy, and we had the softness over the topline, which is what we’ve been going for the whole season.

“Toronto can be a little looky, but we’ve found that when he’s up in a nice frame, he’s ready for action and follows the lead that I give him, which is super,” continued Davis. “This is definitely one of my biggest wins, and it means a lot because I love the Derby—it used to be across the street from our house—and because of losing Mary last year.”

Pro Athlete

Davis attributes much of the horse’s improvement to carefully managing him like the professional athlete that he is.

“He gets all the things that any horse could ever want to feel his best,” she explained. “We do his sport innovations: the magnetic blanket, vibrating blanket—he does not want for anything, which I think is necessary for a top athlete.”

Davis would like to make her debut on a U.S. Nations Cup team this year, while her biggest goal is to get onto the squad of U.S. riders who travel to Europe to compete in the summer.

Davis and Toronto will now contest the Donato Farms CDI4* Grand Prix Special, which—along with the Donato Farms CDI4* Grand Prix Freestyle—takes place on Friday evening.

Click here for full results from the Donato Farms CDI4* Grand Prix.