It was a day of mixed emotions at the MARS Maryland 5*.
Of the original 23 entries, 21 attempted Ian Stark’s cross country course. Of those 21, four parted ways, seven retired after having a single refusal, and two were eliminated for three refusals on course.
Just eight pairs completed the 6410 meter course with 45 jumping efforts and only one was within the time allowed of 11:15—the rest ranged between 4 seconds to one minute over. Frangible pin activations and missed flag penalties sprinkle the scores from fifth to eighth.
A 38% completion rate is quite low for 5* cross country competition and questions arose about the standard of the course. Was it a fair test? Conditions were ideal all day long with aerated ground, sunshine, and a well-presented course approved by all the riders, technical delegates, and the course designer.
Problems spread all over. At the combination in the arena in fence 5, two raised their hands. At the combination of angled ditch brushes at fences 17 and 18, two retired. At the crab water combination at fences 20 and 21, two retired. At the massive rider scarer of a chevron brush at fence 24, two retired.
There is no question that the terrain at Maryland proves to be the biggest challenge of the competition from year to year. The first two runnings of the competition had achievable time for the cross country but the last two proved to be consistently tough.
The small field and the high profile problems throughout the course magnified the difficulties of a five star course in general and the Maryland course specifically.
“Look at the world ranking of riders and use that as a part of the benchmark that [you’re] measuring against when building things to do with ratio of riders to clear rounds,” Tim Price commented. “But it’s just a decent track. You would, I think, still see [those] combinations struggling here.”
“The thing is, with Ian, why he’s so clever, and why the course rode so tough is because if you commit to the straight route, you’re in and there’s no room for error,” Bubby Upton commented. “So that’s where we then pay quite a high price if it goes wrong.”
That margin for error seemed to loom in the minds of riders and perhaps hands were raised that might not have if the first few riders had put down positive rounds.
Once the dust of the day settled, it was Britain’s Oliver Townend with Ballaghmor Class in the pole position, countryman David Doel and Galileo Nieuwmoed in second, and New Zealand’s Tim Price and Falco in third.
“This is the top of the sport, and it did feel like you were riding around a Burghley, Badminton, or Kentucky,” Townend remarked in the press conference. “Those events are the top of the sport and for me, the footing, the course, the amazing crowds, give the feel of an exceptional event.”
His partnership with Ballaghmor Class needs no introduction to eventing enthusiasts as top five finishers in all six different five stars starts they have made together. “His sharpness is his strength, and that’s why I’m lucky enough to have kept the ride on him.”
Doel and Galilieo Niewmoed have been knocking on the door of elite status with top ten finishes in Burghley, Luhmuhlen, Kentucky, and Badminton. The only rider to make the time today, he finished a blazing 24 seconds within the time.
“It was almost a little bit embarrassing going that quick,” Doel laughed. “But he just was within his stride. I never really felt like I was pushing him. He’s absolutely a phenomenal galloper and jumper.”
Price and Falco round out the podium. As a horse who has mostly been aimed at senior championships, this is only Falco’s second five star. The pair won their start at the level at Pau in 2021 but have not started since and Price felt it was a good idea to go somewhere new.
“We turned up here, and this course was a little bit meatier than I was expecting. He’s always had a bit of a system where we start out quiet, we build up through the middle, and we push at the end. [From after the entrance to the Saw Mill field], our rhythm flattened out a bit and stayed in that sort of more old fashioned three-day-event rhythm all the way home well.”
The final horse inspection tomorrow morning has moved to 9:30 am EST, starting with the 3* before immediately going into the 5*. Action resumes with 5* show jumping at 3:00 pm and will stream on ClipMyHorse TV.