United States Eventing Association

Townend and Ballaghmor Class Master Stark's Final Challenge at MARS Maryland 5 Star

Elkton, Md.—Oct. 18—Ian Stark’s final five-star cross-country course at the MARS Maryland 5 Star proved to be the ultimate test on Saturday as the field of 22 was whittled down to eight throughout the afternoon. Oliver Townend (GBR) and Ballaghmor Class (Courage II x Kilderry Place) sailed around adding just 4.8 time penalties to their score to slide into the lead on a score of 31.3.

Townend has been partnered with the now 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, who is owned by Karyn Shuter, Angela Hislop, and Val Ryan, since 2014.

“He's been phenomenal,” he shared. “I worked him this morning, and he spooked at a bin, wouldn't go past the generator, and I thought, ‘Yeah, hopefully, it’s going to be a good day.’ His sharpness is his strength, and that's why I'm lucky enough to have kept the ride on him. Only a couple of people have ever tried him, but they got off fairly rapidly. One fell off and one got off! I’m just very privileged. He is a special horse.”

Making the trip over to Maryland has become a staple on Townend’s calendar. This is his fourth trip here, and he has never finished outside of the top 3. He’s hoping “Thomas” will help him bring home his first Maryland win.

“He had a couple of niggling setbacks early on in the season,” he said, “and last time he went to Burghley it went very well. I'd like to remember him for that, and I've been here every year since it's been a five-star and always enjoyed it, and I thought it was nearer to a Burghley type setup than Pau. It's a brilliant event, and I think it's so fantastic to put on another five-star for our sport. There is great prize money and a great atmosphere, and I want to support it. And if Ballaghmor Class was fit and happy, then you know, why not let him come and see Maryland.”

And while Thomas is older in years, Townend doesn’t have any hard and fast plans in regards to his retirement.

“I'll just try and get through tomorrow first,” he said with a laugh. “If he's sound and well— I've never had an event horse that is possibly only an event horse, and as I said, he's a pain in the ass at home. I'm never going to give him to my friend or my cousin to ride. He's not that straightforward, so as long as he's happy and sound, there’s no reason not to aim for another big one, and he's by the same sire as Tim [Price’s] Ringwood Sky Boy, and Tim told me that after 17, Ringwood Sky Boy did another five. So yeah, we shall see. Hopefully, he'll keep going another 10 years so we can retire together.”

As the only pair to go double-clear around Stark’s five-star track, fellow British rider David Doel and the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Galileo Nieuwmoed (Carambole x Sjaloma) made a big leap up the leaderboard from sixteenth to second. They go into the final phase on their dressage score of 34.5.

Doel was originally aiming Galileo, who he co-owns with Mary Fox and Gillian Jonas, for Burghley this year, but had to adjust their plans due to an infection.

“We didn’t have the best of preparations,” shared Doel. “Galileo actually had a bit of an infection in his hock following Luhmühlen, so it was either go to Pau or come out here. I knew I had a good galloping and jumping horse, so I’m very lucky that his owner was quite happy for us to bring him out here and give him a good test. So far it’s paid off.”

Not only were Doel and Galileo the only ones to make the time today, but they finished 24 seconds under optimum time.

“It was almost a little bit embarrassing going that quick,” he remarked with a smile. “He was sort of 10 seconds up at about the 7-minute mark, and I just sort of felt like he kept on cruising really. I just had him gallop underneath me, and he's so smooth to ride, I don't really need to do too much on top. He was phenomenal in his assessing of the flags today, and really tried to make sure you jumped between the flags. He just was within his stride. I never really felt like I was pushing him—I never felt like I was actually going to go into his limit. He definitely still felt like he had a few more gears in there. He just makes it feel so easy. He's an absolute privilege to ride, and probably a little bit of a freak as well, and probably a bit of a one-off horse for me.”

The odds are highly in Galileo’s favor as he has finished on his dressage three times in the past three years at five-star; once at Pau where he finished fourth in 2022, once at Kentucky in 2023 where he finished eighth, and Burghley in 2023 where he finished second.

In third place is New Zealand pair Tim Price and Falco (Cardenio 2 x Witta), who Price co-owns with Sue Benson. The pair added 7.8 time penalties to their dressage score of 27.4 to sit just one-tenth of a point behind Doel on a 34.6.

Falco made his five-star debut in 2021 at Pau, where he won, but hasn’t done one since. When deciding what to do with the 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding this fall, Price needed to decide between Pau and Maryland.

“It just felt like a good idea to do something new and give him a new experience,” said Price on his decision to bring him to U.S. soil. “He's been in great form all year. He went to the Olympics and just found it very easy, recovered very well, and his owner, Sue Benson, and I thought, why not go and tackle something a little bit different?”

For Price, it was all about doing what was best for the horse at this stage in his career.

“We turned up here, and this course was a little bit meatier than I was expecting. I was glad that the ground was quick, and we just had a job to do today. It wasn't about thinking this was the ideal event for him— I just thought it was a good step in his progression into another five-star.”

Of the field, seven retired, six were eliminated, and two, Jessica Phoenix’s Fluorescent Adolescent and Boyd Martin’s Tsetserleg TSF, were withdrawn prior to starting cross-country. There were three falls on course: Harry Meade parted ways from Et Hop du Matz at 12d, Ema Klugman took a tumble from Bronte Beach Z at 22 just out of the MARS Sustainability Bay, and both Boyd Martin and Commando 3 fell early on in the course at 3a. Martin made the following statement on his Facebook page and confirmed that he and the horse were OK. Klugman posted on Facebook that she Bronte Beach Z were “no worse for wear.”

Stark had a lot of mixed emotions about his final course. “I would like more to have gotten around,” he noted. “The ones that got around looked phenomenal, and there were others that I thought looked amazing but had a hiccup that could have happened anywhere, anytime, and it stopped them completing. But I thought there was some great riding and some fabulous horses, and there were some green combinations that they had the odd hiccup that they'll learn from. The main thing, from my point of view, is the horses and riders are all at home in one piece and ready for another day.”

As Stark looked back on his star-studded career in the sport of eventing, he never once imagined he would be where he is today.

“I remember way back, I suppose I was 29 when I took two 7-year-olds to Bramham [England], and I won. I was first and third, and then I took them to Badminton in 1984, and they were third and sixth. I remember my wife and I discussing things, because I quit an office job after 10 years just to ride horses to see if it would work. When I was on the long-list [for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics], we thought, well, that's very nice, but it's never gonna happen. Then I was on the shortlist, and we just laughed. And then I went to the Olympics…. It just kind of happened. Within two years of quitting the office, I was in my first team, my first Olympic Team, and then I was at five Olympics. I've been commentating for 20 years. I've been stewarding racing, I've been coaching, I've been designing. None of this ever crossed my mind. It’s all thanks to these wonderful creatures, the horse. I've had endless careers out of it throughout my lifetime. It never entered my head, all these years ago, what my life would be. It's been very special, and I'm very privileged.”

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