This shot shows the angle that you can take to jump the front edge as a corner, with the direct Sunken Road line becoming clearer as you peek through.
We arrived at the fifth anniversary MARS Maryland 5 Star eager to get out on course as soon as humanly possible. We knew we’d be looking at something completely different: for nearly the first time in the U.S., we have a European designer bringing his flair and style to this 5* track (and the 3* track, which is running as you read this — yes, I know I’m incredibly late getting this preview to you but let me just tell you it has been a WEEK already), and there was much unknown about what exactly would be up his sleeve this weekend.
A little about Pierre: he’s actually something of a self-taught designer. He was born into an equestrian family, his father an Olympic eventer and his mother was a groom. He himself competed to the top levels of the sport, but when it comes to course design, he kind of found himself thrown into it. The Le Goupil family founded Le Grand Complet in Normandy in 1995, and since this was before the days of course designer certifications and the family needed a course, the job fell to Pierre, who found he enjoyed the nuance and detail of laying out a track. As he built a reputation, he traveled the world to help with designs in countries like Brazil, Bulgaria, Belarus, China, Hungary, India, Japan, and Russia.
His designation as the Paris Olympic designer came after his first major Championship design at the 2023 Pan American Games. Now, he steps up once more in stature to tackle his first 5* design, taking over from the capable hands of Scottish icon Ian Stark.
The result? A course that has absolutely everyone chattering.
“It’s the hardest bloody course I’ve ever walked in my life!” exclaimed Caroline Pamukcu, who to be fair had probably had one look at the time I asked her for her impressions. She’s presumably calmed down a little since then and focused in.
The first water at fence 3 gets the horses jumping confidently into the water.
Why the chatter, exactly?
Well, it IS a very different look and feel out there. The difficulty lies in the details, but I think Pierre’s actually been quite smart about this design. We’ll of course see how it rides, but my thought is that the pairs who can do this track with the added terrain will make it look very doable, and the ones who can’t do it today will know very quickly that it’s not their day. It’s then on the rider to be smart and know — quickly — whether or not it’s meant to be their day.
The first of these separators on course comes early on in the going at fence 7ABC, the second combination which comes in the Main Arena. Riders will enter and exit through the same area (opposite of the entrance used for dressage) and come quickly to the notorious half-keyhole “owl” brush fences. This year, they’re set on a curving, accuracy-demanding line that takes them from the first owl/keyhole/brush corner/thing, to an airy vertical set over a spooky liverpool of sorts, followed by another *creative* turn to the second owl. This is a question that’s raised some eyebrows — one person in the media center brought up how different the green brush keyholes look against the contrast of the arena footing. On grass, they won’t stand out so much, but against the contrast it’ll be interesting to see if that visual element helps or hurts.
A look at the longer route at the Sunken Road if riders choose to jump the table head on and have a friendly tone.
Either way, I think the riders will know at this question what they’ve got. And that theme continues all the way through the coffin complex, Pierre’s Puzzle, at 16ABC before the riders hit the longest and steepest uphill pull to the famous Crab Water. To my eye, the track is very “top-heavy” and front-loaded. I think this is an interesting concept, as I think Pierre’s given the riders every possible chance to get a gauge on the day’s viability before they get to the biggest fitness test.
The Yanmar America Sunken Road at 11 and 12 is a key combination that we’ll be very interested in seeing. Uniquely, Pierre’s made the table at 11 such that it can either be jumped straight on, followed by either a very difficult 90-degree turn to get to the yawning ditch at the sunken road, or they can actually jump the front right corner of the table as a corner to put them pretty much directly on the straight route line. Most riders say they’ll see how it rides, though some are planning to jump the corner option, but again, this is an early scenario for riders to determine how their horses are reading the questions.
The Pierre’s Puzzle question is also very tricky, with a very “jump into space” landing on the back end of the C element, which is an airy brush vertical set on an angle atop a steep mound. The coffin here is always influential with its steep downhill approach, but Pierre’s added a new level of nuance and challenge to it.
The approach to Pierre’s Puzzle at 16.
So by this point, with several very intensely challenges behind them, riders should be feeling good, and if they have enough gas in the tank to push up the hill, get the Crab Water done (where there is a very friendly alternative route that doesn’t look like it’ll take an offensive amount of time), and safely navigate the final few, mostly downhill questions, they should finish well. The top-heavy nature of the course is something I may be slightly exaggerating, but I also think Pierre’s done a good job of weeding out the ones who may be in danger of having bad trouble before the horses are tired. I think this smart designing, but what will be interesting to see is if any horses (or their riders) look truly mindblown by the time they get to the coffin.
The very good thing is that this field is full of strong cross country horses. As I mentioned in our Thursday report, we have eight horses (Artist, Phelps, Cartania, Quindiva, Wabbit, Humble Glory, FE Lifestyle, Mama’s Magic Way) who’ve done Burghley (probably the closest comparison to this track in terms of terrain challenge) and four full Thoroughbreds in the field, along with an average majority of Thoroughbred blood across the field. That’s going to be a good thing this afternoon, as I think the horses who’ve navigated Burghley and have the quickness of mind and foot will be the most successful on this track.
A wide angle of the arena combination, which features two half-keyholes and a watery vertical that will require some slicing.
Felix Vogg, a Swiss Olympian who’s come over with Cartania for a shot at the title, is one of the riders who knows Pierre’s courses the best among this field, basing full-time in Europe and riding several of his tracks over the years. He says this track does carry a definitive Pierre stamp, down to every little detail.
“He’s a good designer,” Felix mused. “He makes you a bit frightened, but at the end, you can ride it if you ride it well. I know he’s really detail oriented, like really, really crazy in Europe — sometimes the courses are not ready when when you allowed to walk the first time! — because he’s so into details. But I think at the end, that’s what makes him [good at it] as well, and that’s why it’s, at the end, riding well.”
We’ll be watching closely. Stay tuned to find out how the day goes, who shines and who goes home with things to work on in our full cross country report coming tonight. In the meantime, you can view a full preview of the course on CrossCountryApp here. It’s an 11:00 optimum time, with a total of 30 numbered fences.
You’ll be able to follow along live on USEF Network on ClipMyHorse for our U.S. readers. Instructions on how to link your USEF Account are here so you can access the ClipMyHorse stream for free. For local viewers, Maryland Public Television also carries a great live stream that can be accessed here. For anyone needing an easy way to convert time zones for viewing in your local area, this website is a really handy tool. We will also have a traditional Cheg Darlington live blog for you for the 5* division, so be sure to stay tuned!
EN is pleased to welcome Deirdre Vaillancourt Real Estate as the sponsor of our coverage of this year’s MARS Maryland 5 Star. If you’ve got Aiken, SC on your list as a place to base or even move to, Deirdre should be your first call! You can find all properties available and contact Deirdre directly by visiting AikenSCProperties.com.
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