Photo via CrossCountryApp.
It’s now time to turn our attention to the cross country test that awaits at Les 5 Ètoiles de Pau in the south of France, where torrential downpours have ravaged the venue with moisture. This weather turn has promoted event officials to make some amendments to Pierre Michelet’s course to ensure the safety of all riders and horses tomorrow.
Below, we’ll round up what the riders are saying about this year’s track, but first let’s take a look at its makeup.
Pierre has reversed the direction of the course this year for the first time since 2021, making for a busier first section of the track that takes riders on a different loop through the first six fences, after which they will encounter their first real opportunity to gain some time on the clock. This year’s course also features five water questions, utilizing the main water complex on three occasions and the second complex twice. Par to Pierre’s style, there are plenty of suck-it-in skinnies placed on the course, as well as multiple narrow “stump” type fences which can be prone to catching a leg here and there, especially late or early on course.
You can click through each question on course in the CrossCountryApp plan embedded below or by clicking here.
Now, let’s talk about the changes that have been made this evening by officials.
The first fence that’s been taken off is fence 17, a trakehner fence set on the racecourse section of the track, due to poor footing.
Photo via CrossCountryApp.
Also removed from the course are fence 28, a single oxer, and the A element of the 28ABCD combination — always an influential one at Pau, and it still could be even with the removal of the A element, which was a brush rolltop. The takeoff and landing spots were given as the reason for removal, and the ground crew will also place sand at the takeoff and landing of all fences in the morning to ensure more stable going for the horses.
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- Photo via CrossCountryApp.
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- Photo via CrossCountryApp.
Some changes have also been made to the roping of the track, creating a more direct route from fence 9 to 10 and again from 22 to 23, avoiding some of the more heavily saturated gallop areas in doing so.
The optimum time for this year’s course was originally set at 11:25, making it lengthier than its recent iterations, though that time is likely to be modified according to the changes that have been made. Officials will meet again in the morning to make any further adjustments needed to the track.
Let’s hear a bit from the riders as they react to Pierre’s design this year:
🇬🇧 Ros Canter – Izilot DHI – 19 – 1st / MHS Seventeen – 31.7 – 31st
I think when you’re riding wet conditions, there is an element that actually, you need to get stuck in anyway, just to help the horses and give them the best positive experience possible. But it’s also very much about taking every jump as it comes, riding the horse underneath you and being prepared to change plans along the way. Of course, it would be lovely to say I’m going to go out and try and make the time on both my horses but I think very much things will change hour by hour, minute by minute, second by second when we’re actually out on course.
🇬🇧 Emily King – Valmy Biats – 24.6 – 2nd=
I know they’re going to make some adaptations to make it kinder on the horses, but the going is still soft. Val[my Biats] he loves the mud. He lives out in the mud. He is mud! But obviously you’re going to have to really vibe with how they’re feeling. And also, I think with the going being deep, it’s not like a Burghley or Badminton track out there, but there’s serious accuracy, containment, precision questions, which, if it’s deep and you’re having to stick on your line and the going is getting turned up, it’s going to make it really tough. I think it’ll be a proper course tomorrow and we’re going to have to really ride what’s underneath us not get carried away with the time, really just go with how they’re feeling.
🇬🇧 Oliver Townend – Cooley Rosalent – 24.6 – 2nd= / En Taro Des Vernier – 29.4 – 15th / Crazy Du Loir – 36.3 – 57th
I think it’s polar opposite to what we had last week in Maryland, in terms of, Maryland was huge. This isn’t huge, but it’s obviously technical. I think on good to firm ground, the time would have been extremely difficult to get because of the twistiness and technicality of the course. I think he [Pierre Michelet] wanted you on the wing and a prayer at some of the distances. Because of the rain, now I don’t think that’s going to happen. Maybe a couple of ‘mad French’ ones might have a go at getting the three and half strides into three, but I’m on babies – two first timers and a 10-year-old so I’m just going to look after them.
🇬🇧 Tom McEwen – Brookfield Quality – 25.8 – 4th
I think this is a different test again. I actually think Luhmuhlen, considering we look at it as a foreign track, it’s very smooth and rolling and forward distances. This [Pau] you got to make a few choices. It’s not the biggest, but at the same time it’s nearly like doing two 4*S. There’s a few minutes out on the Gallop track, or whatever you call it. It’s just so intense. I think the time will be really quick. You’ve just got to be there or there abouts and then go for it on Saturday, and actually maybe the early draw with the sun on his back today and the best of the ground on Saturday might be really beneficial.
🇬🇧 Yasmin Ingham – Rehy DJ – 26.5 – 6th
It’s definitely a true, strong, five-star track. There’s plenty of places that Pierre has given you opportunity to miss your line or your distance. So it’s definitely very French built. Everything’s quite forward, but it’s nice when you get onto the race course, you can really open them up and hopefully get up on your minutes by the time you get on this side of the race course, when you’re doing this and twisting and turning again. So you’ve got to have definitely a very agile horse for this sort of track, and ones that can be quite nippy around the bends and then open up on the straights. But it looks a beautiful track.
lt’s a bit soft in places, so I definitely will have to see how it goes during the day. I mean, I’m obviously in the last half, I would say. So I’m assuming that the conditions will vary throughout the day, and whether they’ll get better or worse, I’m not sure yet, but we’ll have a plan and then if it needs to be adjusted, we’ll have A, B, C, D, etc.
🇬🇧 Selina Milnes – Cooley Snapchat – 27.1 – 8th
I don’t like the start, one two. Literally one off ? bend, two that big table. I know I can really help, [get in the air over that?], and I think that might make him a bit careful. I’m hoping. I don’t like this loop at all, down here. I’m hoping, if it rains, that’s what they’re going to take out. it’s just so twisty, and the water – you jump in, and go round again, jump in again. Not the best Pau track I’ve seen, but we’ll see. He’s pretty versatile and he’s not strong. I’m actually quite glad. The other two, you wouldn’t want to bring the other two big rangy strong ones., yeah. But he’s usually very on the aids.
🇨🇳 Alex Hua Tian – Chiko – 28.9 – 13th
I was hoping that we’d be galloping around twisty turns on the top of the ground, and I think we’re galloping around twisty turns, but in the middle of the ground. So I think we’ll see he’s, he’s, he wouldn’t be an endurance athlete specialist, which is, but he’s, he’s a great jumper. He tries so hard. He’s got huge heart. And I think he’ll have, he’ll definitely have a good crack jumping everything tomorrow
🇺🇸 Boyd Martin – Fedarman B – 29.5 – 16th= / Miss Lulu Herself – 30.1 – 21st
To have a horse like Bruno to go out first for me at Pau – I’m so confident in him, and he’d be one of the best cross country horses I’ve ever had. So I’ve got my tail up, but it’s a mission out there [on the cross country] for sure.
🇬🇧 Caroline Harris – D. Day – 33.3 – 22nd
It’s probably more twisty than Luhmuhlen. There’s a lot of roll tops on mounds, curve into corners and stuff like that. The water isn’t quite such a big jump in as Luhmuhlen – that he got a little bit scared with! But he will keep trying and trying and trying for me, bless him, so we’ll see!
🇬🇧 Kylie Roddy – SRS Kan Do – 31.4 – 29th
The first field is really wet; whether they’re going to make us go through that as many times as they’ve done at the moment, or whether they take some out, I don’t know, but it’s wet and it’s twisty in the first field. The twisting on the wet ground is going to be quite hard and you don’t want to be falling over on the flat, that’d be a silly thing to have happen. It’s going to be influential. I think Pierre Michelet has done what he always does, as in, the course is very different but he makes you decide whether you’re going to sit and ride straight for a stride before you turn or whether you turn up off the blind and see what your horse can do. Lots of water crossings this time. The first water is very strong – you’ll know where you’re at when you come out of there, whether you’ve got one that’s on it or whether you’ve got one that you’re going to have to work a bit harder on. I think we’ve got five waters in total this time, the two on the racecourse and you come back in and you cross the last water twice. Whenever you go through the water, the time’s always hard anyway, so with five waters and some wet ground we could see a very different leaderboard tomorrow.
Cheg Darlington contributed to this report.
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