Maria Eilberg led out the British interest on the first day of the individual dressage competition at the FEI Alltech European Dressage Championships 2009. Aboard Two Sox she bettered the grand prix score she achieved yesterday for 68.83% in today's special, commenting:

"The team pulled out all the stops yesterday and everyone is in high spirits; there's a real buzz in the British camp so we've had to be strict with ourselves to refocus on today's competition - you have to ride each test as if it's the first one again. Two Sox was great in the arena today, really relaxed and less on his toes so I could ride him for more expression."

Maria leads the competition after eight riders. 15 will go through to the final competition, the Freestyle, on Saturday evening but only three riders from each nation may go forward.

The British team achieved medal success in yesterday's team competition by taking the silver medal.