The Art(ist) of Cross Country Day at Defender Kentucky CCI5*

During mixed zone interviews this week over the two days of dressage, one member of the media had one simple question for the riders: Can you sum up eventing in one word?

After cross country on Saturday at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, I think my answer to that question would be: partnership.

One of the things Monica Spencer (NZL) has said frequently over the years when talking about the 15-year-old unraced Thoroughbred gelding, Artist is that he tends to not be the most confident in his own self. It’s grown, to be sure, but what really makes Artist so successful is his partnership with and trust in his rider.

Artist was four when Monica spotted him across the warm-up at a show. He’d been purchased after training at the track and selling well as a yearling with high hopes that he’d be a successful racehorse. That plan didn’t come to fruition as Artist simply wasn’t fast enough (sure was today, though), and Polly McDonald took him on and put the beginning foundations on. Monica’s a lady who knows what she wants, and so she trotted right on up to Polly in that warm-up and asked if she’d sell the horse. The rest was history.

In truth, Artist wasn’t even necessarily a horse she identified from the jump as a 5* horse — it is his answering of question after question that’s wound up producing him into one. This is now their second double clear run and their sixth jump penalty-free completion at the level.

“He’s very polite, and he’s not got a lot of his own confidence,” Monica said. “He’s very much like, ‘what’s next mum?’ Which does make it even more special that he does when he does, for me. Coming up the grades, I was like, ‘oh, he’ll be a nice two-star horse for someone,’ And he just keeps giving and keeps trying. He definitely knew it was a big one today…he’s just an out and out good boy.”

And it was that partnership that earned the pair this clear inside the optimum time, allowing them to stay on their personal best dressage score of 22.3 and head into Sunday’s show jumping with one pole in hand and a real chance at that coveted 5* trophy.

At Maryland, Monica told us that she felt like she herself had grown in her own self-belief and riding to where she felt she could unleash Artist’s top speed more intentionally. Previously, she’d gone slower, protecting him more than he really needed and accumulating a bit more time than she would like (though she always tell us it always feels fast, which is honestly really relatable as I also feel the same when I ride a Novice round, until I watch the video). This year, after her dressage test, she expressed confidence that she felt she could repeat her Maryland performance — which she did easily.

“It is so nice to be on a good galloper,” Monica said. “[It] allows me to take my time at the jumps and make sure I get it right, and then he just gives me a good gallop after the fences. I did all the numbers I planned to do. It always feels like a bit more desperate than it looks in your head when you’re picturing but [we] got all the numbers. It was between all the flags! For me, the hardest thing is doing it all at speed, because if someone said go out there with Max, being the horse he is, take as long as you want, and get around that course – I’d be like hm, this is a nice time! But the pressure with the minutes is really what makes it that much harder.”

I don’t actually really want to talk about Artist’s show jumping record — mostly because it’s really been talked to death. At the risk of making myself sound really silly, I think that while yes, of course, data and records do matter and tell a story, it would be silly not to account for the intangibles here. How often are we told that the record only tells a part of the story? Again at the risk of sounding silly or downright unintelligent, I think that sometimes we can get ourselves into a narrative that becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Listen: it is HARD to do this sport, to put all three phases together at once. I understand that my job here is to be objective, to tell the story and report the facts. But we are Eventing Nation, and we want these humans and horses to succeed JUST as much as the next fan of the sport. So while yes, Artist does not have the strongest record on paper, let’s focus on some positives instead here and put some better energy into the world. Artist HAS jumped a four-fault round before at this level — at Burghley, arguably THE most difficult and tiring course of the (current) six — and a single pole down would still give Monica the win.

And wouldn’t that be something? I think, instead of thinking about records and poles tonight, let’s think about that.

“We don’t get to celebrate very long in this sport,” second-placed Will Coleman (Diabolo – 27.3) said in the press conference on Saturday afternoon. And I think that’s a truly fair point. So, for the next few hours at least, let’s let Monica celebrate the win that was today — the win for Thoroughbreds everywhere. And maybe there will be an even bigger win to write about tomorrow.

Now, don’t get me wrong, part of why I will absolutely not be sleeping tonight is that I am buzzing at how wide open this finish of both divisions is. We are in a special era of once-in-a-lifetime repeat greatness from several horses — the likes of fischerChipmunk FRH, Lordships Graffalo, Ballaghmor Class — but this finish is honestly quite fun to think about.

One of those potential storylines is that of Will Coleman. He’s been quite successful in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S here, with two wins to date, and he’s actually poised to potentially take not just one, but two wins on Sunday. He’s second in the 5* with the Diabolo Group’s Diabolo, who made his debut at the level with absolute grand style on Saturday, earning a clear inside the time to move up from fifth, and also second in the 4*-S with Jerome Broussard, Beth Lendrum and Gloria Callen’s Very Dignified.

Again, the theme of the interviews today with Will was partnership. “I think it’s in a good place,” he said of his relationship with Diabolo, who he’s had since the end of the 2022 season. “I think we’ve always thought a lot of the horse. He’s kind of had a few bits of bad luck, but that’s horses, you know, that’s life. We were lucky that we were able to keep working with him and keep making him stronger, keep trying to establish a bit more trust and just make each other better. And I think today’s just a product of that.”

Will knows his horses are prepared well, and while of course one doesn’t truly know if they’ve got a 5* horse until, well, they’ve got a 5* horse, he felt the 14-year-old Holsteiner gelding was in the right place to make good on this freshman effort. “I felt pretty good about where the horse was coming into the event,” he said. “I had to really push a little bit at the end, because I was a few seconds down, but I just didn’t want to stretch him too much in the beginning, because he hasn’t gone this distance ever. And it was warm, you know, it was probably 10 degrees warmer than it was this morning, and the air just seemed to get kind of still. I was just worried — I felt good about his fitness, but I was worried I might find the end of him too soon, but he still had a bit left, and when I jumped through the [Normandy Bank] and kind of said, ‘Come on, let’s go’, he was there for me. I think that’s what you want in a five-star horse — just that ‘dig in’ quality. And you never really know you have it until you ask for it, but he gave it to me today.”

Caroline Pamukcu enjoyed another successful 5* run with her own, Sherrie Martin and Mollie Hoff’s HSH Blake, stopping the clock with just two time to add to move from fourth into second on a two-phase score of 28.6. Any day with her “best friend” is a good one, and for Caroline the success simply just comes down to the trust and partnership (there’s what word again) with the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding.

“He made it feel easy, I have to say,” Caroline said at the finish line. “He just kind of took me around and gave me such a great feeling. He was foot-perfect even when I wasn’t.”

Caroline’s expressed to us this season that she’s always working on smoothing out her riding, riding “professionally” as she often puts it, and that professionalism showed today with Blake, who was her final ride of three. Her efforts could yield yet another storyline tomorrow if a clear round is achieved and she can really put the pressure on the top two; a podium finish or better is not in any way out of the question.

Guys, ordinarily I’d go much deeper into our cross country results, but since I’ve kept you waiting for so long, I’m going to move to the 4* to wrap up (and to be completely transparent, I do need at least a couple hours of sleep). I am going to try to catch up with Derek di Grazia tomorrow to get his debrief, as the riders all had some great comments about the course and I think it’s more than due a deeper dive. You’ll have to be a little patient with me – I promise I have more stories to tell!

In the meantime, though, here’s a quick look at some stats from Saturday:

A quick update on some incidents from today as well:

• Mary Bess Davis had a fall today just after the Owl Hole, despite a valiant effort to hang on and right herself aboard Imperio Magic. She was attended to very quickly by the medical team and the course was held for about 15 minutes. Mary Bess reported in that she broke her fibula and has a laceration from a back stud, but she is in good spirits and we’re wishing her the speediest of recoveries.
• Ema Klugman was pulled up after the Normandy Bank when Chiraz hit the corner on the way out. Ema regrouped, checked on her horse and resumed with the option, and the Ground Jury pulled her up before the next fence. I do want to commend the Ground Jury for their rapid response time. Ema was allowed to continue and did go on to complete Chiraz’s first 5* cross country, so this isn’t an assessment of Ema but rather simply a nod of respect and appreciation to the Ground Jury. Deciding to pull a horse up is NOT an easy or a lightly taken decision, and often we’ve seen the communications and decision-making lag behind the timeline for effectiveness. We know it is disruptive and disappointing when it happens, there is no denying that, but I do think this was a good example of how to look out for our horses in a proactive way.
• Arden Wildasin pulled up and got off of Sunday Times at the Normandy Bank. She walked him off the course after checking him out for a few minutes, and she did report to us that “Mumbles” should be ok.
• In the CCI4*-S, there were two horse falls; both horses and both riders are not reported to be injured as of publication.

And here is a look at your top 10 from the 5*:

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Tamie Smith Poised for Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S Win

There was another leaderboard shuffle as Tamie Smith played musical horses with herself as dressage leader Danito and Lillet 3 swapped places. It’s now Lillet 3 poised for another 4* win as she added just 1.6 time penalties for a two-phase score of 31.3 and one rail in hand over Will Coleman and Very Dignified. Initially, Tamie had the lead with Danito, but some unanticipated tension in the start box and trouble on course resulted in her ultimately retiring him to try again another day.

You’ll likely recall Lillet 3 as the most recent winner of the Carolina International 4*-S, which is a well-known set-up event for Kentucky and also shares a cross country designer. This helps with prep in many ways, and for Tamie today was a great example of Lillet’s ever-growing skillset and reliability.

“There was a lot of trouble out there, and it’s always nerve wracking to see how things aren’t riding to plan,” Tamie said. “But she went out, and it was like being on a little race car. So I had a great time! I added in some places, maybe I could have been a little bit closer [to the time], but I thought it was pretty impossible to do it.”

“Her and I wouldn’t have seen an atmosphere like this before together,” Tamie described of Lillet 3 who is owned by Molly Duda (also here competing in the 4* this weekend). “And it takes time to build that partnership [there it is again!] and trust. And it’s it’s hard to go out when you’re not sure what they’re going to do and just ride them like you trust them. But she answered all the questions.”

Similar to Monica’s Artist, Tamie describes Lillet as needing to grow in her own self-belief in the early goings of their partnership. “She keeps growing. You know, obviously in horses, you’re hoping that they love their job and they’re comfortable in their job. And when I first got her, she wasn’t always comfortable — I wouldn’t say comfortable — she wasn’t always confident. She was a little worried. And I just haven’t felt that this whole season. She has such a an elegance about her, and just a very sure way of going.”

It’s been a bit of a different path for Tamie with this mare, who is 10 this year. The mare had competed at and won a 4* in Europe with Andreas Dibowski before she came to Tamie, and this was unique in that Tamie, like her peers, tends to prefer producing her horses from the start, or close to it. “I’ve always produced pretty much all my own horses,” she said. “So it’s been definitely a stepping stone on learning how the slow way is the fast way. I spent a lot of time at the three-star level and we actually struggled when we moved up to Advanced. We didn’t quite know each other. I’d move her up to Advanced and then I’d back her off, and coming into Rebecca Farm [last July] I was kind of [unsure], like I don’t know if this is ready because I didn’t trust the partnership. But we got through that and she won and was phenomenal. I grew a ton of trust in her, and pretty much ever since then, we’ve had little blips but not because of trust, but you have to get to know a horse. I think she’s pretty seasoned at the four-star level now.”

Will Coleman did a bit of a different warm-up with Very Dignified, who can get excitable in such environments. This 11-year-old Irish mare is a newer addition to Will’s string, and this is also sort of an example of needing to build a partnership with a horse that’s gone at a higher level with another rider (Robbie Kearns of Ireland). One element of this partnership-building is learning how to best warm up “Dory”. At Morven Park in October, where the mare went on to finish third in the US Open Final CCI4*-L, he actually went straight into the start box after he had some difficulty warming her up — something he hadn’t had to do before. Today wasn’t too different, but he anticipated the excitability and warmed up in an arena instead of in normal cross country warm-up.

“I was a bit late, got it wrong by about five seconds, but she was great,” Will said. “This is her first Advanced run of the year. I’ve only started her out quietly, I tipped around a Preliminary and an Intermediate horse trial, just trying to build her up slow. I’m not 100% sure what I want to do with her this year. I have an idea, but I’m not going to tell you about it now! She’s just a horse that I really, really like. She’s a very strong-minded mare, but I love her — she gave me a great spin.”

Mia Farley also continues to build up her piggy bank of relationship deposits with Invictus, a 10-year-old Holsteiner/Thoroughbred owned by Karen O’Connor who shaved his time penalties just about in half in this sophomore Cosequin Lexington 4*-S cross country effort. He and Mia will go into Sunday’s show jumping with a score of 37.9, ensuring Will Coleman does not have a rail in hand to secure at least second position.

“I think like a part of our sport, the partnership,” she said about what growth she felt in the last 12 months. “Since he’s been three — we backed him and started him — he’s kind of had the same mindset and same trainability.And so as far as last year versus this year goes, yes I would hope that he is a little bit more experienced, but it was the trust. I think that was mostly what shaved our time, is just having that year under our belt and gaining the trust and kind of sending him into lines more than I would have last year.”

Mia admits that show jumping is something of a complicated thing to her. She’s coming off the back of the fan-favorite OTTB Phelps, who isn’t here competing this year due to an ill-timed injury and despite his incredible talent for cross country is not the strongest show jumper. Despite the fact that “Sammy” is a stronger jumper, Mia is contending with her own mentality and ability to deal with pressure.

“It’s actually interesting for me going into tomorrow,” she said. “I’ve been in a good place before at this table, and I’ve gone into tomorrow with a very open mind, because I was on a wonderful horse that was fabulous on Saturdays. And I’m trying to figure out, for me personally, I’m trying to figure out how to handle this pressure, because I know I’m on something that’s a little bit stronger on Sundays. So I think we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I think whatever happens, it’s going to be mostly how I react to this pressure, I think, because he’s a good horse on Sundays.”

Here’s a look at your top 10 in the 4*-S ahead of show jumping:

We will kick off the final day of Defender Kentucky at 8:30 am EST with the final horse inspection, which should be streamed live on the event’s Facebook page. Then, it’ll be on to show jumping for the CCI4*-S at 10:45, followed by the CCI5* starting at 2 p.m.

And so the ending to this weekend’s story awaits. This weekend, a new champion will be crowned in some fashion. Will it be Monica and the great Thoroughbred who’s stolen our hearts, laying down the round of their lives to seal the deal? Will it be the ultimate ending for Will Coleman, who is extremely well-positioned to win both the 5* and the 4*? Would this be the weekend that Caroline Pamukcu wins her first 5*? Or will we see the star on the rise Lillet 3 keep her stead as a 4* champion? Or…will someone else come from behind and surprise us all?

That’s the thing about sports, no matter which you follow the most, and I despise myself for writing the following words, but they fit: the rest is still unwritten.

I’ll be back with more brain cells and thoughts that don’t involve Natasha Bedingfield songs later today, so until then, Go Eventing, and thanks for your patience.

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