All Eyes On Artist: Spencer and Her Thoroughbred Shine At MARS Maryland 5 Star
Elkton, Md.—Oct. 17— There’s a whole new crew leading the five-star at the MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill presented by Brown Advisory at the conclusion of the second day of dressage, and New Zealand’s Monica Spencer and her Thoroughbred gelding Artist are leading the field with a five-point lead on a score of 23.7.
“I’ve had ‘Max’ since he was 4, so we have been together quite a while now,” Spencer said of the now 14-year-old (Guillotine x Maxamore). “He’s been such a great horse for me—he’s taken me all over the world.”
She grew teary-eyed as she continued on, “We come to these big events, and I'm just thankful to be here. He just tries so hard. You know he’s a full Thoroughbred, and he's just been so trainable for me. He gets to one of these big competitions, he just sees that racetrack out there and wants to run, but he stays with me. It's really special to be at a five-star and to be back at Maryland where our American adventure began.”
Spencer now resides in the U.S. since coming in 2023 to compete at Maryland, where she and Max finished seventh. She’s noticed Max has grown quite a bit of a fan-following everywhere he goes.
“Max definitely has a fan base. I walk past multiple people a day at these big events, and they say, ‘Max, he's our favorite,’ or if I meet people, they say, ‘Are you Monica? Do you ride Max?’ It’s him that's famous—it's not me. He definitely feels like he knows he's flying the flag for all the bay Thoroughbreds out there.”
She has taken a good look at the cross-country course tomorrow and thinks a real test is ahead of all of the entries in the five-star field.
“I think dressage will be long forgotten tomorrow,” she remarked. “It'll be interesting to see how the day unfolds. It's a serious track out there. I've walked it three times so far, and it hasn't got any smaller each time. I’m looking forward to getting out there and letting Max run.”
HSH Blake found himself sitting in second place with longtime rider Caroline Pamukcu. The 10-year-old Anglo European gelding (Tolan R x Doughiska Lass) may be making his five-star debut, but he’s seasoned at the upper levels of the sport having represented the United States at both the Pan American Games in 2019 and the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
“I'm so proud of him,” said Pamukcu. “This is his first time at the five-star level, and I'm just over the moon with how he performed. He felt like he really enjoyed himself. When he came into the arena, it's like he kicked into another gear and just felt very happy, which made me happy.”
Pamukcu loves Blake, who she co-owns with Mollie Hoff, Sherrie Martin, and her husband Deniz Pamukcu, so much that she named her daughter who she had at the end of 2024 after the horse. She gave all of her string a few months of downtime after she gave birth, and she feels that both she and her horses, Blake included, are finally back to where they were last year.
“It kind of took us a while to get fit and restart our basics,” she shared. “Normally in the winter season, you have all of January and February and March to kind of get back into the routine. I just started riding in February, and I rode one week after giving birth, and it's pretty hard on the body. We just needed a second, and he'll get better and better, and better, and hopefully I'll get better and better.”
Swiss rider Felix Vogg and his uber-accomplished partner Cartania, owned by Vogg and Phoenix Eventing S.A.R.L., have made their presence known in the state of Maryland by posting a dressage score of 28.3 to sit in third at the conclusion of dressage.
Vogg said he was feeling, “really good,” after their test today.
“She has done a couple of five-stars already, but that test is a bit hard for her, but she still made it personal best. I'm really happy.”
After going around the cross-country course they will contest tomorrow, he said it “ticks all the boxes— difficulty, stamina, and mentally. I think it's a proper track. It's right up there with all the other ones in England. I think there's plenty to do tomorrow.”
Similar to what yesterday’s leader, Boyd Martin, spoke about in deciding which horses should go to which five-stars, Vogg felt that Maryland was the right next step for Cartania.
“I had an injury in the late summer and couldn't go to Burghley,” he noted. “I think she's more of a Badminton or Burghley horse, not a Pau horse, so this course here I think it's better for her.”
The five-star cross-country will begin at 1:30 p.m. EST on Saturday.
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