With 27 obstacles comprised of 45 jumping efforts over 6,410 meters of rolling Kentucky hills, Derek di Grazia’s cross-country course for the Defender Kentucky CCI5*-L is no easy feat. The longtime designer of the spring five-star changed the direction of the 11 minute, 15 second course this year, giving it a different feel.

“I always say I think the technicality is always there,” he said. “I think there are different exercises for them to do, and I think the time will be not easy to get. … I think the ground will ride quite quick and fast, so that’ll be a benefit. The other thing that could come into play—which you wouldn’t think at this time of year would—[is] I think it’s going to be a little warmer on Saturday.”

One thing that’s remained the same is the beginning of the course. Di Grazia has given riders four fences to get their horses galloping forward in a good rhythm before the tougher questions begin. Their first combination is also the first water on course, the Mars Sustainability Bay at 5ABC. Riders will drop in over a log—landing on dry land—before cantering across the water, up a hill to a roll top, and a forward four strides to a brush corner.

“If they ride the straight line, that’s a pretty good angle on the corner,” di Grazia said. “If they try to stay out, they’re going to add some distance, which will make them either have to add or go forward that much more to make up that distance. So that’s the first combination, not too intense but sort of getting them into the course and  getting them prepared for what is going to come up a couple fences later when we get to the Cosequin water.”

Riders will have a long gallop to two straightforward questions, a big table (Fence 6) followed by a rail and brush (Fence 7) before heading to Fence 8AB, the Cosequin Cove, which features the corgi jump that was introduced last year. (The dachshund jump has also returned on the four-star course, but sorry cat fans, still no felines to be found—though there are several fish and camels decorate another fence.)

Though the front side of the corgi isn’t tall, it’s set so that there’s a fairly significant drop into the water on the back side. From there, it’s four or five strides across the water and up the slope to a triple bar chevron.

“They’re going to need to know their horse and really have a plan here,” di Grazia said. “The plan could change depending on how they land into the water. This is where you’re going to see the riders have to be able to react to what’s going on underneath them.”

The Le Chameau Leap, a triple bar over a ditch (Fence 9), will carry competitors toward their next combination, the Walnut Bank at 10AB, a narrow, open oxer down sloping terrain to an angled brush. Riders won’t want to carry too much pace to the oxer, di Grazia said, as they’ll need to land in control to get their horses on the line to jump the brush. While some pairs can commit to jumping it on a serious angle, others will ride more of a curve to the brush to protect against potential run-outs.

The iconic ditch and brush (Fence 11) and the Wofford Rails (Fence 12), an open oxer, lead them to the famed Defender Head of the Lake, 13ABCD, where they will drop in on the left side of the lake, turn right in five strides to a chevron brush in the water, to a brush corner, also in the water. Di Grazia has given them plenty of options, with the long route featuring two chevrons, one on dry land, one in the water, and a corner on dry land.

Riders opting for the faster route can choose how many strides to take between the chevron and the corner.

“The direct line there is actually quite a forward three strides, whereas I’ll imagine what you’ll see is that they’ll stay out a little bit in four strides there as well,” he said.

“The main water … gives the appearance that it requires fairly accurate riding,” British rider Kirsty Chabert said. “The rest of it is really beautiful, very flowing, very clear to the horses.”

They’ll have the Blade and Bow Bourbon Table (Fence 14), with its 1.90-meter top spread, on the way to two more big combinations on course. The EEI Root Cellar (15ABC) hasn’t been used on the five-star course in a few years. It’s back for 2024, asking riders to negotiate a pair of triple brushes after dropping down the 1.80-meter drop.

“It’s very big,” said Bec Braitling, who is doing her first five-star in 21 years on Caravaggio II. “I think I walked the down bank, and I was like, ’This feels like Burghley,’ down to the skinny brushes. Thanks, Derek. It’s pretty proper.”

They won’t have much time to breathe, as their next challenge is Pete’s Hollow, 16ABC. Di Grazia makes sure he changes this combination substantially each year, but the terrain always makes it a real test. This year, competitors will jump a house at the top of the hill, down the steep slope to a double brush set in the flat bottom of the hollow, then make a right-hand turn up a hill to a corner for the direct route, or opt for a straighter line to another corner that will add time to their round.

He cautioned that riders need to get right on their line after the brush, otherwise they’ll hit the direct-route corner at quite a steep angle.

“The other thing, too, is the striding going from the brush at the bottom to the corner at the top, it’s quite forward, so they have to land, and at the same time as they are trying get their line, they have to keep moving forward to the corner,” he said. “I think that if they try to add another stride in there they just have to watch out that they don’t take too much of the energy away from the horse.”

They have another table (Mick’s Picnic Table, Fence 17) before the final water, the Rolex Grand Slam Challenge, 18ABC, which features a brush drop, a fish in the water and then an angled ditch and brush next. The distance between the brush and fish is related, and though there’s quite a bit of space before the next fence, it requires a focused ride.  

Once again, they’ll have just one gallop fence—the Squirrel Tables at Fence 19—until the combination at the Normandy Bank, 20ABC, They’ll jump up the bank take several strides to an angled cabin to an open corner. Once again the terrain and angles means riders need to be definitive in their lines to protect against a glance-off.

The Park Question comes late this year, Fence 23ABCDE, and because it begins with a MIM-clipped rail on a steep slope, riders need to be on their game. In 2021, Tamie Smith was in second after dressage, but earned 11 penalties when Mai Baum activated the frangible device here. Element B is the ditch, followed by a pair of offset brushes labeled CD and E. Di Grazia said he was deliberate in the lettering here, as the final brush in the long route is labeled DE.

“I don’t want them to jump CD and then all of a sudden think that they can just pull left … and jump that fence over there which normally would’ve been E,” he said. “I made the CD because then they can’t do that; they can’t go jump that first fence, then pull out and go jump the second one because then they’d be jumping D twice, and you can’t do that. Once they’ve jumped the first brush, they have to jump the second brush.”

In the case of a run-out, riders could jump the alternate option, but di Grazia expects riders to opt to do a small circle and jump E on its own instead.

The final combination on course, the Mighty Moguls at 25ABC, cannot be taken for granted. This year di Grazia utilized three root-ball logs, which featured at Pete’s Hollow in 2023. Competitors will have galloped about 10 minutes 30 seconds at this point, if they are on their minute-markers, with just two fences to go afterwards.

“It’s a fence that I think all the riders are going to have to make sure that they really take care of the horses,” he said. “They can’t think that they’re going to go fast and get sloppy because otherwise it could come back to bite them.”

Fences in this spot have caused trouble in the past. In 2021, William Fox-Pitt (Oratorio), Mike Pendleton (Steady Eddie) and Boyd Martin (Tsetserleg) all had falls at this combination, when it was a pair of what di Grazia described as “prelim logs” on small mounds.

“You can’t underestimate, especially at this point in the course what is going to happen,” he said. “You don’t know how your horse is going to feel, and you have to just be able to make sure you ride a really good line and make sure you take care of the horses.”

After this, a narrow-faced table and the lucky horse shoe are all that stand between riders and the finish line.

Riders assessed the course as beautifully presented, with the biggest challenge being in the cumulative effort the many combinations and 11-plus minutes of galloping will present.

“I think that not any one combination stands out as extremely technical or hard or big or anything, but I think the cumulative impact of the course is really going to be the challenge, for everybody, but certainly for me and my horse,” said Ema Klugman, who will be riding five-star first-timer Bronte Beach.

Doug Payne, who will be riding five-star veteran Quantum Leap and first-timer Camarillo, said the course is signature di Grazia.

“It’s very much like Derek’s courses in that there is always a multitude of opportunities to make a mistake,” he said, “but I think it is very well presented to the horses—the presentation is great, the jumps are beautiful. It looks like a whole lot of fun to go attack.”

Ariel Grald was equally effusive about the course.

“It looks amazing. As always, Derek sets a brilliant track,” she said. “There’s plenty to do out there, all the way through the course. I just think he’s so genius with how he uses the terrain and changes up all the questions. He really asks everything of you and the horse.”

Want to know more about the fences? Take the virtual course walk here.

The Chronicle is on-site at the Kentucky Horse Park with two reporters to bring you everything you need to know at coth.com, so you don’t have to miss a minute of the action. You can find all of our coverage from the week here. You can also follow along on Instagram and Facebook. Be sure to read our May 20 issue for more in-depth coverage and analysis of the event.