United States riders Mario Deslauriers, on Urico, and McLain Ward, on Sapphire, set the pace in the first leg of the team competition at the Rolex Jumping World Championships at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky. Their performance led the U.S. team to the top of the team rankings, with two more days of team jumping to go.

Deslauriers and Urico stopped the clock after a clear round in 71.25 seconds. Ward and Sapphire, riding almost five hours later in the field of 121 horses, fell just short, in 71.79 seconds.

Sandor Szasz of Hungary, who is competing in his first international championship and has never placed in a major international competition before, surprised his competitors and the roaring crowd in the Rolex Arena by urging Moosbachhofs Goldwing through the finish in 73.24 seconds.

The U.S. team holds the early lead, with 5.69 faults. Germany is second (9.8 faults), France is third (11.32), the Netherlands is fourth (11.33), Canada is fifth (11.93), and Spain is sixth (13.22)