Forty horse-and-rider pairs challenged the $400,000 Kentucky International CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute on Saturday, with nine entries moving forward to the jump-off. But it was the first to return over the shortened course — World #2 Kent Farrington (USA) aboard Greya — who claimed top honours with a blazing double-clear round in 42.93 seconds. Two-time Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam was second aboard James Kann Cruz (0/0/45.00), and Mimi Gochman of the U.S. was third riding Inclen BH (0/0/46.06).
The Kentucky International CSI5* is hosted as part of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™ (K3DE).
Australian Thaisa Erwin was right in the mix, making the jump-off and placing sixth (0/4/46.26) with 13-year-old KWPN mare Hialita B (Emerald x Vaillant). This combination represented Australia at the Paris Olympic Games last year.
As Thaisa told Equestrian Life last year, Hialita B was found through her long-term partners, the Hendrix family. “She’s very, very difficult, especially on the ground, but we get along very, very well. She has an incredible amount of fight in her. She is just incredible. I don’t think I have ever sat on a horse with so much ability and so much fire to want to do it.” The mare is owned by Thaisa in conjunction with Michael and Wendy Smith.
Farrington blazes to victory in the $400,000 Kentucky International CSI5* Grand Prix
Farrington gave all the credit to the horse he calls a quintessential modern show jumper. “She’s incredibly fast, super careful, and a fighter,” he said. “She’s a real winner in her heart and an incredible horse, and I’m so proud of her tonight.”
Before a packed house of enthusiastic spectators, an impressive field of top show jumping competitors from 11 nations tested their mettle against Guilherme Jorge’s artistic 17-effort, 1.60m first-round course. Farrington was the first to return for the nine-horse jump-off, and he and Greya set a pace that went unmatched for the rest of the round. The 11-year-old Oldenburg mare owned by Farrington executed a spectacular sharp turn to the oxer over the liverpool that their fellow competitors failed to emulate.
“None of these are easy wins,” Farrington said. “You look at the group in the jump-off today; you have top riders with their best horses and up-and-coming riders like Mimi. It was going to be a tough competition no matter what. All there was for me was to do my best round and hope that was enough. I knew I had a chance, but when somebody sets a mark and everybody comes after you, it’s almost always beatable. It’s all depending on how much risk you are willing to take.”
Charlotte Jacobs (USA) and Conor Swail (IRL) both tried the same turn aboard Playboy JT Z and Casturano, respectively, but ended up with refusals at the liverpool oxer. Sweetnam was next, putting in a clean round two seconds shy of Farrington’s time. Luis Fernando Larrazabal (VEN) left all the rails up, but his mount Condara was a little backed off at the beginning, leaving the pair to trip the timers in 47.45 seconds for fourth place.
Alex Granato (USA) and Helios VD Nosahoeve’s hopes were dashed when they jumped through the top of the penultimate fence, landing in fifth place with the fastest four-fault score (0/4/45.46). Gochman was smooth and exact, settling for a nice, clean round to secure third.
Thaisa Erwin’s (AUS) ride on Hialita B entertained the crowd as the horse kicked out over the top of the fences, but ultimately they caught a back rail and brought home sixth (0/4/46.26). Last in the ring, Darragh Kenny (IRL) was on track to potentially catch Farrington when his horse Eddy Blue ended up off-stride from a short turn to the penultimate fence and stopped.
“I knew when [Farrington] had gone that he had set the target and that I would have to do everything to catch him,” Sweetnam said. “For me, I didn’t feel I was quick enough at the start, and then I was quicker towards the end. I could have been faster at the start, but my horse jumped great. I’m very happy with him.”
Both Farrington and Sweetnam had to manage what they call their horses’ “character” on their way to a top performance.
“She’s a very special horse in terms of talent, probably on another level than even many of the great horses I’ve had,” Farrington said. “But her character is very strong — it’s what makes her great, but it took time to build her up. She’s a boss mare — she runs the stable and is in charge and very confident in herself.”
“He’s always a work in progress; he’s got a lot of character and likes to do things his way. He always has,” Sweetnam said of his and Gizmo Partners LLC’s 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse. “We have a good system at the moment and have had good results this year … he likes a crowd and likes to show off, and he’s in a good place, but he’s always a work in progress. He likes to throw spanners in the works, but he’s worth the work.”
At age 21, Gochman is a newcomer to the top levels, and she says she has worked hard on her own mental preparedness to be competitive with DG Sport Horse LLC’s 10-year-old Austrian Warmblood. “It’s definitely different, and I’m really working on his consistency at this level,” she said. “I like to take a long time to walk the course and think through it. I take more time for each little step and focus on getting good distances and supporting him over every jump. It’s a lot more mental preparation for me to make sure I’m in a good spot. With the physical preparedness, my team does such a good job, so it’s really about getting myself in the right head space to compete at this level.”
This is the first year the Kentucky International was held as a CSI5*, making EEI the only organiser in the world to host a CCI5*-L and a CSI5* at the same time.
“It’s been a complete collaborative effort with EEI and Split Rock ever since [we began hosting show jumping here] in 2018. It was the goal of both of our groups to make this into a premier event in North America and bring it up to the 5* level,” said Derek Braun, President of the Split Rock Jumping Tour, which organizes the CSI. “It’s a great achievement to get to this level, and it’s a long time coming. This event was a monumental team effort to get to this point. EEI works around the clock for this one event every year to go off without a hitch. My version of that work is creating the show jumping event and format and giving the riders and horses an experience that is the best it can possibly be, but the legwork and countless hours is a credit to EEI.”
“It’s a point of success and achievement that we’re able to work with Derek and make this event a point of pride,” said EEI president Prim Hudgins. “It adds to our existing [CCI5*-L], and this is the only place in the world that offers this level of competition across two disciplines in the same weekend.”
Source: K3DE press release / edited by Equestrian Life
