The crowds turned out for the debut of the new Maryland 5 star event’s cross-country day, flocking to the Fair Hill Special Event Zone in numbers never seen over the last 32 years at the old Fair Hill International fixture in another area of the late William DuPont’s former estate.
Perhaps as many as 10,000 enthusiastic fans, a number arrived at judging by the traffic jams on the area’s narrow roads, showed up today to watch some of the world’s most celebrated international riders do what eventers do best. The spectators tailgated, admired the horses and crowded around the formidable fences in a fashion that spelled success for a facility which will host all manner of other attractions, including racing with parimutuel betting.
There was no betting this afternoon, but if there had been, you wouldn’t have gotten much of a payout by putting $2 on Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class. The world’s number one event rider kept his lead from dressage, adding nothing to his 21.1 penalties from the opening dressage phase of the world’s newest 5-star event.
Oliver Townend and Cooley Master Class ace the Fair Hill drop. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The stunning cross-country course was viewed with trepidation by many of the competitors, who didn’t hesitate to express their anxieties about it over the last few days.
Boyd Martin, the highest-placed U.S. rider, third with On Cue after yesterday’s dressage, called it “horrendously difficult” after walking the hilly terrain and seeing what designer Ian Stark had in store.
When it came time to meet the 28 fences on horseback this afternoon, however, competitors discovered the experience wasn’t as overwhelming as they feared.
“It rode well all in all,” summed up Oliver, whose trip ended five seconds under the 11-minute optimum time.
“All the top class horses dealt with it extremely well. Some of the real good gallopers made it look like a walk in the park,” Oliver observed.
“For me, my horse gave his all.”
Tim Price of New Zealand, in second place on one of those good gallopers, Xavier Faer, was 14 seconds under the time. He stands on his dressage score of 24.3 penalties, less than a rail behind Oliver. We’ll see how that plays out in the show jumping tomorrow afternoon. Boyd and On Cue also threaten Oliver after a lovely trip that kept him on his dressage score of 25 penalties.
Tim Price and Xavier Faer are a close second going into show jumping. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
But after the top three, there was quite a bit of shakeup in the standings.
Six riders were eliminated, including Phillip Dutton, the last to go, who had a fall with Singapore at the Groundhog Garden Gate just seven fences from the end of the course as the rain that had held off for hours came down with a vengeance. The horse eventually caught his breath after the shock. Both he and his rider were able to walk away from the incident, but that made me recall how Ian said yesterday he couldn’t relax “until the last horse is home safely.”
He also had a bad moment at the beginning of the 5-star, when the first horse on course, Buck Davidson’s Carlevo, fell at fence 10A, the brush shoulder.
:I wasn’t feeling terribly great when the first horse fell over,” Ian noted wryly. The tension has taken a toll on him.
“I feel as if I aged 20 years in a week,” he confessed.
But perhaps having riders heap praise on his efforts will refresh him.
Tim Price, Ian Stark, Oliver Townend and Boyd Martin.
Hannah Sue Burnett, who had been fourth on the 18-year-old Harbour Pilot, dropped to 25th with a refusal and time faults.
Lauren Nicholson took her slot on the leaderboard with Landmark’s Monte Carlo, another horse owned by Jacqueline Mars.
Doug Payne, the top-placed U.S. rider at the Tokyo Olympics, had a disappointing dressage test on Quantum Leap that tied him in 33d place with Buck Davidson and Jak My Style. The two are now tied for 11th after excelling on cross-country.
Don’t look down! Lauren Nicholson and Landmark’s Monte Carlo get ready for a leap off the wall. (Photo © 2021 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Harry Meade, a member of one of Britain’s most respected eventing families, moved up from 10th to fifth with Superstition. The horse was nicknamed Stinky before Harry started riding him, so the eventer recounted that they exchanged the t for and l and made the Hanoverian gelding answer to Slinky around the barn.
Another Brit, Zara Tindall, the former world champion, had touted the jumping skills of her Class Affair yesterday when his dressage test could be summed up as a work in progress. But a refusal and time faults dropped her from 15th to 29th, though he did look impressive at the challenging Maryland Crab Water combination with two giant crabs presiding, claws and all.
Boyd Martin and On Cue mastered the Maryland crab. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
The final horse inspection tomorrow will be interesting for those who recall when Cooley Master Class was spun at the Land Rover Kentucky 5-star in April over what Oliver called the equivalent of a paper cut. He noted the horse had a “a little bit of a shifted shoe” today, so we have to hope that will have no lasting effects.
Even if Oliver takes first place, the biggest winner of this weekend will be the Maryland 5 star at Fair Hill itself.
“I love this venue,” said Boyd.
“It’s got that aura of a championship with the racetrack and the beautiful rings for the dressage and show jumping. I think this cross-country course was fantastic. I think this event’s going to evolve in years to come to be probably the world’s greatest 5-star.”
If you want a rundown on all the results, click here