Hundreds of people joined Amanda Ross and Stuart Tinney for the Bates Course Walk today.

Adelaide 5* Cross Country Preview

Inside Adelaide Presented by RB Sellars

By Equestrian Life

The city of Adelaide is abuzz as tomorrow the iconic RB Sellars Cross Country Day at the Adelaide Equestrian Festival begins, featuring the only 5* in the Southern Hemisphere. A venue like no other, the cross-country course will wind its way through central city parklands, Australian tree landscapes, over main road crossings with skyscrapers in the background, and through the city’s Rymill Lake.

In the words of Olympian Amanda Ross as she led the Bates Saddles course walk today, “the horse you start with is not always the horse you finish with.” Time will be tight, as it always is at this event, with the 5* course featuring 45 jumping efforts over 6327m, all to be done in 11 mins and 6 seconds.

The iconic 5* course has been meticulously designed by Mike Etherington-Smith, who has held this role with the event since 2015. The international course designer brings to Australia a breadth of experience, having developed courses for two Olympic Games, as well as World and European Championships. This year proved slightly different to previous years, with the course featuring for the first time the newly upgraded Rymill Lake. “We only got access to the lake at the start of the week, there was strong pressure to get it finished,” explains Mike Etherington-Smith.

The Rymill Lake was finished just this week.

Fences to watch

Whilst the whole cross country course will provide great viewing, there are a few combinations that may prove influential across the course.

Racing SA 5ABC

Situated in Victoria Park, the Racing SA 5ABC is the first real question for horse and rider after four straightforward galloping fences. Coming off a bend, the combination features a large box with a drop behind, to four strides into a double of cottages on an angle. A rider fence – this combination will be a good switch-on for each combination to start the course.

7AB Pure Steed Gates

Frangible pins feature across the course and will look to be most influential early in the 7AB Pure Steed Gates. Whilst not a difficult combination, the upright gates will trigger a significant 11 penalties if the horses activate the frangible pin system. With three strides in the double, riders will need to be on the right line.

10AB Forestry SA Birds Nest Brushes

10AB will be an interesting combination for spectators to watch, with a big bullfinch fence at A. The horses will jump quite big at this fence, and it will be a question to ask of them to lock on to the B element. This combination features a long alternative.

11AB & 12 AB Bates Rymill Lake

11AB & 12AB is where we will get to see the riders present to the new Rymill Lake for the first time, with the course sending them through here twice. The main viewing place of the course, there is a big atmosphere and thousands of people for the horses to quickly gauge, and it will be daunting for the less experienced horses to jump into.

20 ABC RB Sellars Creek Crossing

With the combinations beginning to feel the effort of the course, the 20ABC RB Sellars Creek Crossing will prove to be an interesting question. One stride on either side, the combination proves complicated as it requires the horses to jump the ditch on an angle to an angled last element. There is an alternative should any trouble arise.

All will be to play for tomorrow, with scores close at the top. 
 

What riders are saying

It will be the New Zealander Diane Gilder and her rising 20-year-old gelding Your Attorney – who have competed here at Adelaide twice previously in 2019 and 2023 – who are the ones to watch tomorrow in first place.

Diane shared her thoughts on the cross country with Equestrian Life today “It’s always tough. You never really know the biggest challenges until you’re out there.

“I think it’s good this year how the course comes back across [towards the grandstand] a bit earlier with more on the home paddock before finishing; it’ll be interesting to see if the horses come cross and think they’re nearly done, when there are a few more fences still to go.”

Second place leading into cross country, Queenslanders Andrew Cooper and Hey Arnold will be aiming for a speedy and clear round.

Andrew shared today: “My goal is going clear and under time, and that’s about it! It won’t be an easy ride. There are lots of jumps to be jumped out there, and lots of tricky lines.”

Speaking on the tight time, Andrew shared: “The track is definitely an accumulation track; there’s not necessarily one line that’s tough. If you’re not nailing the lines, they’ll probably pull up somewhere.

“I think one of the hard things about Adelaide is coming down to the water, as there are always lots of people there. You don’t get the crowd like we have here at other events. I’ve just got to keep him on is job and hopefully he’ll be good,” he added.

The CCI5*L cross country begins tomorrow from 1pm local time. We wish all competitors a safe and successful ride!

Published 18 April 2024.

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