United States Eventing Association

Ask any U.S. eventing fan what the biggest day in the sport all year is, and they will most definitely respond with, "cross-country day at Kentucky." Saturday is by far the busiest event, normally averaging around 40,000 people at the Kentucky Horse Park, which is nearly 50% of the event's total attendance all week, there to watch some of the best of the best around the world contest a typically cunning Kentucky cross-country course designed by Derek Di Grazia.

We spoke with some of this year's five-star competitors to get their thoughts on the course design, and here's what they had to say:

Boyd Martin | 7th with Commando 3 and 11th with Cooley Nutcracker

"It's going to be a pretty challenging day. I'm on two seasoned horses though, but it's pretty challenging at this level. I've just gotta give it my best and have a good round."

Arden Wildasin | 29th with Sunday Times

"He's one of the faster horses, but he does get tired with the pushing up, so like at the back the Quarry, it's going to be something different. I'm not going to go the direct route, because I know we probably could get it done and scrap it, but at the same time, he doesn't owe me anything, so let me do something safe so that I continue to gain confidence so when I do come to the last water, he's like, 'I got you. You saved me here. So we're going to save each other.' "

Tim Price | 2nd with Vitali and 9th with Global Quest

"I think it's a proper five-star. There's nothing non five-star about it. The demands are right through the course. I think the designer, Derek's been very clever with putting the right kind of question at the right kind of place around the course. And yeah, walking it just gives me that little, that little feeling of nerves and excitement that I get when it's a proper one, so to be respected, I think, and it's a long way around, and there's jobs all the way home. So yeah, tomorrow's big day.

Braden Speck | 27th with BSF Liam

"It's doable. Everything looks doable out there. It definitely will be hard. It's just going to be whether we can, like, once he gets kind of bit tired towards the end, just keeping it together, keeping his focus, and making sure he still has that confidence when we get to the end of the course. That's really important."

Monica Spencer | 1st with Artist

"There's tough combinations the whole way, and there will be problems scattered everywhere, probably, which is the sign of a good course design. They usually read Derek's courses really well, so I think all the jumps are very much there to be jumped, but it'll be easy to have a problem anywhere on course, and it's a true five-star."

Tom McEwen | 3rd with Brookfield Quality

"Kentucky is never to be underestimated. Derek is never to be underestimated. There's going to be combinations look impossibly tough, and the same combination with different riders and horses that will make it look incredibly easy. So I think it will cause problems from start to finish. I really do believe it's a true five-star task. I think there's some really, really tough combinations out there. Looking forward to getting out there with Norris."

Gabby Dickerson | 25th with Traditionally Fernhill

"On his best day, I think we'll be able to nail it. But also, who knows? You know, it's a lot of big efforts. It's gonna be a long time out there. So that's all for me to find out tomorrow. It's a first time for me, so you never know."

David Doel | 12th with Galileo Nieuwmoed

"It's a definite five-star track. I don't think there's a single fence you could pick out as being sort of the most influential. I think the whole way around you're going to have to be on tip-top sharpness. He's lulling you into a bit of a false sense of security at times, and then he suddenly puts you into a sort of decent combination. You've got to stay with your wits about you all the way."

Will Coleman | 5th with Diabolo

"The time has become increasingly difficult to get here, and you can see why. It just doesn't give you a lot of time or places to really make up any time. And the questions that he's put out are pretty technical. I think he gives you a nice beginning, but that coffin comes up a little quicker on that turn, and then it feels like we've got big, scopey questions followed by very, very nimble rideability questions. So it's really just a test of your training and a test of your horse and partnership, and that's what it's supposed to be. I'm happy with the course, and we'll see how we do."

Caroline Pamucku | 4th with HSH Blake, 15th with HSH Tolan King, and 17th with She's The One

"I think the beginning is nice and flowing. The first water, Derek is very kind to not make you jump straight into the water; you jump into the grass first. The coffin you come into a new angle, and he has rails instead of a solid brush so the horse's can actually see through the ditch and see the jump first, so that is kind of nice. Then it really gets beefy as you keep going, and I think at the end, maybe, you have the place you can let the horses breathe, but it's a five-star track. It's brutal; it's hard. That's why its a different level than four-star; it's its own category."

Harry Meade | 8th with Grafennacht and 10th with Superstition

"I think Derek is a master of cross-country design. He's arguably the best designer in the world, and his ability to create a track that has terrific flow and is quite busy, but at the same time, isn't overwhelming for the horses, is really impressive. I didn't think there were as many really bold attacking questions on forward distances, which you sometimes get on Derek's courses, but there were perhaps some more blind turns on slightly quiet distances, which will cause problems. In a way, it makes it a little bit more open, because sometimes a really good horse can come unstuck with a problem with that, whereas, if you have a very difficult combination that requires a very active brained horse that can read it from a long way out, that's what separates them more from the weaker ones. I think there's really plenty to do. It always staggers me with Derek's courses, how much he changes them, and there's very little resemblance from previous years. It'll be a great competition and hopefully some really good sport."

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