Charlotte Dujardin's quest to retain her individual dressage gold from London 2012 got off to a great start at the Equestrian Centre with the double Olympic champion topping the Grand Prix leaderboard.
The 31-year-old and her horse Valegro, who she rode to both golds in London, scored 85.071 - nearly three clear points clear of Kristina Broring-Sprehe (Germany) in second.
Her score in the Grand Prix counts towards the team competition standings, which will be decided after Friday's session, while also qualifying her for Monday's freestyle event where individual gold will be awarded.
“I think for me, going in there today was all about enjoying it," she said. "I watched a lot of people yesterday looking nervous, but I thought ‘this is my absolute passion, I’ve got the horse of my life, the top trainer and everything around me, so I’ve got to enjoy it.
“I was smiling before I even went in there. I can’t help but smile when riding Valegro. I think something and he just does it. I don’t even have to ask." Britain's other competitor to go on day two was Carl Hester, who also trains the dressage team. The 49-year-old scored 75.529 on Nip Tuck to finish 15th in the standings ahead of the final day of competition. With Germany nearly two full points clear of Great Britain in the team standings - having placed four riders in the top seven - Dujardin admits gold in that event is unlikely. But the Brits won't be giving up the fight with all four riders still to ride again on Friday. "Now we’ve all been in the arena once, I think [Friday] will be better," Dujardin said. "Fiona [Bigwood] did a fantastic job [on Wednesday], Spencer [Wilton] did a really good job at his first Olympic Games and Carl did a great job - he’s not only had to ride himself but he’s been training Spencer, Fiona and me, he’s been the rock for everyone. "I honestly don’t know how he’s done it, but he’s done it for the whole team and I know for a fact that we wouldn’t be where we are today without him."