JUDY Reynolds, Ireland’s sole dressage representative at the FEI World Equestrian Games, lies in 12th place overnight after the opening day of Grand Prix action in Tryon. The competition is an individual qualifier and part of the team format.

Reynolds and her loyal partner Vancouver K, owned by Joe and Kathleen Reynolds, scored 71.957% on a day when just five percentage points separated the top 12 combinations. The remaining 39 competitors will perform their Dressage tests today, after which the top 30 will qualify for Friday's Grand Prix Special.

Germany took the lead after the first day of team dressage, but the defending champions have only a narrow lead over Sweden in silver and the USA in bronze medal position when the battle resumes later today.

This halfway result is based on the best individual score for each team in today's Grand Prix, so there is plenty of room for dramatic change before the podium places are decided.

German domination was underpinned by the best performance of the day from Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (32) and the 11-year-old mare TSF Dalera BB whose mark of 76.77 gives her side a 1.4 point advantage over the Swedes.

A personal-best score of 75.248 from Juliette Ramel (31) and Buriel K saw them slot into second and dramatically boost Swedish chances. A total of 38 horse-and-rider combinations took their turn today, and another 39 will strut their stuff before the 2018 champions are crowned tomorrow evening.

The Germans are chasing down their 12th world championship team title, and Von Bredow-Werndl has put them on track to achieve just that on her own world championship debut.

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