March 3, 2025 
It may have been her 19th Nations Cup appearance for the U.S. team, but this weekend, Laura Kraut liked what she saw.
Riding the still-inexperienced Tres Bien Z, the three-time Olympic medalist had a tough first round in the ‘Saturday Night Lights’ $150,000 CSIO 4* Nations Cup, becoming the drop score for Team USA. But it hardly mattered.
Kraut’s teammates Natalie Dean (Acota M), Carly Anthony (Heavenly W), and Charlotte Jacobs (Playboy JT Z) were more than ready pull their weight, helping to end Round 1 on a zero score—the only nation on the startlist to do so. Their success continued in Round 2, sealing the victory and preventing Kraut from needing to return to jump for a second time.
“This was the nicest anchoring I’ve ever had to do,” Kraut joked. “From the beginning, when Robert told me who the team was, I was really pumped. These three amazing riders have been on fire for a while now, not just recently, but for years. The way they rode the first round, it was textbook.”
A total of nine nations—Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Mexico and Venezuela—joined the U.S. in Round 1, with the top eight teams returning to jump in Round 2 (Israel didn’t make the cut-off). Ireland remained in the hunt on a score of four, while Belgium and Canada carried over 9 and 10, respectively.
But the night belonged to senior team American rookie, Carly Anthony, who posted the only double-clear for the U.S. aboard the 13-year-old KWPN gelding, Heavenly W. “We wouldn’t be here without the horses, so I definitely owe everything to Heavenly and to my team that supports me every day to be able to achieve this incredible opportunity and goal,” Anthony said.
Paired together since 2021, the duo previously won a 3* 1.50m Grand Prix in Saugerties, NY in 2024, jumping clear in 27 rounds at that same height 48% of the time (Jumpr Stats).
Also putting in an impressive show, Jacobs and her promising mount of one year, Playboy Jt Z, who finished on a single time fault in the Round 2. “I would love to jump for another Nations Cup or two this year. I think my horse is really good with this format. I thought he actually got better in the second round,” she said of the 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding.
With Jacobs’ time fault and a rail down from the 25-year-old Dean and Acota M in the second round, the U.S. took the win on a score of 5. In second place—and despite an impressive double-clear performance from Daniel Coyle and Incredible—Ireland dropped three total rails, finishing on a score of 12. Belgium was third on 17.
This marks the second, senior Nations Cup appearance for both Jacobs and Dean: Dean jumped 0/0 during the CSIO 5* Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup of Sweden in 2023, while Jacobs rode Edocenta in the CSIO 5* Nations Cup at Thunderbird, also in 2023. On Saturday, however, Jacobs had best appearance to date aboard first-time Nations Cup mount, Playboy JT Z.
“Hopefully, there’s a few opportunities for me over the summer,” Jacobs said. “He’s still only 10, so these are still steppingstones that can build him up to someday jumping some of the biggest Nations Cups in the world.”
One person Jacobs, Dean, and Anthony will not need to convince about their readiness for future Team appearances, however, is their esteemed anchor rider and cheerleader, Laura Kraut.
“I think building towards the Los Angeles Olympics,” Kraut said, “we have three exciting young girls here that I think have a strong chance if things go right.”
