Robert Kellerhouse walks the new path for the CCI3* course.
It only rained four-tenths of an inch overnight here in Temecula, Calif., but the water has created quite a mess on Ian Stark’s cross country course at Galway Downs. There’s a lot of standing water on the course by the trade fair and main arenas. As a result, some minor changes have been made to the CCI3* and CCI2* courses, while the CCI* track remains the same. The riders met for a briefing at 10:15 a.m. PST to discuss the changes.
In the CCI3*, a new path has been outlined for fence 20, a bus jump in the corner of the track on the far side of the main arenas. The new path avoids the muck and standing water. The CCI2* will also follow the new path at this jump, which is fence 16 on their course.
Fence 20 on the CCI3* course and 16 on the CCI2* course
In the CCI2*, 290 meters have been removed from the track, which makes the course 4,440 meters with a new optimum time of 8 minutes, 5 seconds. The steeplechase jump at fence 11 has been moved from the racetrack down to the lower field where the footing is better.
The consensus from the riders seems to be that the first part of the course and the infield are in good shape. The problem is mud and standing water on the back part of the course near the road and main arenas. The final water complex is also quite a bit deeper now.
While it did rain before cross country several years ago, there’s never been standing water and mud quite like this before, so it remains to be seen exactly what kind of toll that will take on the horses. The sun is out now and drying things up, and there’s a good chance the footing will become sticky and holding.
Carving out the new path for fence 20 on the CCI3* course.
Ian Stark told riders in the briefing that “the ground might be a bit stickier than it was, so your horses might get a little more tired. Please look after them because the ground jury will stop you” if they look tired.
CCI2* cross country will start at 11:20 a.m. PST under the new time, which has been delayed two hours to allow these modifications to be made to the course. The CCI3* and CCI* will run after. We’ll be running live updates here on EN, and you can also follow along via PRO Tour Radio at this link. Be sure to follow EN on Twitter for further updates.
#GalwayDowns: Website, Schedule, Entry Status/Times, Live Scores, EN’s Coverage, CCI3* Preview, CCI3* Course Walk, PRO TV, PRO Tour Radio
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- Lots of standing water in the arenas
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- Lots of standing water in the arenas
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- Mud mud mud
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- Working on the final water complex
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- Lots of standing water in the arenas
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- The mud just off the trade fair
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- This water complex seems to have expanded!
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- The view coming up toward the keyhole in the trade fair
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- The hill up to the keyhole.
