Could the eighth time be the charm?
Kent Farrington had competed in seven FEI World Cup Show Jumping finals before coming to Fort Worth, Texas this week to try again for his first title in the annual indoor championship. The look of intense determination on his face as he sped over the fences at Dickies Arena matched his results so far — he’s two for two.
After winning the first speed leg on Thursday on Toulayna, he came back Friday with the brilliant Greya, seemingly his perfect equine match, to dominate the 34-entry competition yet another time. In the seven-horse jump-off, the world number two-ranked rider finished more than half a second ahead of the runner-up, three-time Olympian Eikan Sato of Japan on Chadellano JRA in his first World Cup appearance.
Eikan Sato of Japan and Chadellano JRA
Kent didn’t have to do anything drastic to gain his edge.
“I just did her normal round, and her normal round, I thought, would be fast enough for the class,” said Kent who, of course, was right.
“I’m just excited to be here with a chance to win,” Kent said.
In the overall standings going into Sunday’s two-round finale for the top 30 riders, Kent is on 0 penalties, 4 ahead of Steve Guerdat of Switzerland, who is seeking a record fourth Cup title. But Steve was running behind after toppling a rail in the tiebreaker, where he wound up fifth on Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte.
Kent enjoys a precious gem in Greya, a 12-year-old Oldenburg mare he understandably treasures.
Kent Farrington and Greya.
“I’m really thinking about the final on Sunday, so I was trying to measure her efforts and measure my speed to put myself in the best position possible. And then hopefully, we have some luck on Sunday.”
He didn’t want Greya to be stressed by coming back into the arena for the presentation, so he borrowed Skylar Wireman’s Tornado for that appearance. The crowd would have noticed Tornado was a bay and no look-alike for the winner, but they cheered Kent with great fervor nonetheless.
While the U.S. dominated the top six with three riders besides Kent in the Thursday opener, the next best American in Friday’s class was Katie Dinan, coming in seventh after dropping two rails on the Anderson Lima-designed course with Out of the Blue SCF.
Jacob Pope was having a terrific round with Highway FBH until he had 4 faults at the final fence to drop him from fifth to eighth overall, tying with Katie on nine penalties.
It could have been worse. The last fence was a disaster for European Champion Richie Vogel on Gangster Montdesir, who crashed through the oxer, leaving his rider on the ground — but not before he had crossed the finish line after clinging to his mount’s neck for precious moments.
Happily, the world number three-ranked rider escaped Gangster’s hooves and was able to hop up and head toward his mount, who was running loose. The incident at that oxer was charged merely as a 4-penalty knockdown to bring Richie’s total for the class to eight penalties, putting him in twenty-third place.
Richie Vogel clung to his horse’s neck while crossing the finish line, escaping elimination.
Going into Sunday, Richi is in a three-way tie for seventeenth overall with 18 penalties.
Eiken hasn’t had it easy in qualifying for the Cup, because he had to do it in highly competitive Europe, since Japan has no indoor shows.
The rider’s Olympic experience showed in his masterful rides with his 15-year-old Chacco Blue gelding.
“I’m really happy about second place,” said Eiken, noting at the post-competition press conference that he was sitting next to “the best rider in the world.”
Of Chadellano, Eiken noted with a smile, “He’s a really good horse and I’ve had four years with him. He’s really fit this year and I’m really happy with how my horse jumped.”
Kevin Staut, a Frenchman who is a former European champion and now ranked thirtieth in the world, was grateful to have the chance to compete with Visconti du Telman, finishing third in 35.79 seconds in the jump-off and now is standing third overall on six penalties. one better than Eikan.
Discussing his trip in the tie-breaker, Kevin said, “I have a 17-year-old mare. She’s jumping wonderfully, but she’s not that fast, honestly. There were some riders that had some faults in the jump-off, so I just went in trying to do a normal round.”
Kevin appreciates the work that has gone into making the Fort Worth show run, and organizer Derek Braun was in the room to hear what Kevin had to say about the first Cup final ever organized in Texas.
Kevin Staut and Visconti du Telman.
“It’s not so easy to find the energy to organize this type of final,” Kevin observed, noting, “as riders, we sometimes complain because we want the best, but we also have to say thank you and recognize when the organization is perfect. The stables are wonderful, the horses are great, the grooms are happy, — so thank you.”
Click here for results of Friday’s class.
Click this link for standings after two rounds.
