The three riders slated to follow Kent Farrington in the jump-off of the $200,000 Gene Mische American Invi-tational—Ian Millar, McLain Ward and Margie Engle—would strike fear into the heart of anyone.

“I knew if I took it easy they would eat me alive, so I had to go for it,” said Farrington, the first to jump off. “It’s not really my mentality to go easy; I’d much rather lose trying to win than back into a win.”

So go for it he did, zipping around the short track on Uceko with a clean round in 36.64 seconds. The bold move paid off with the win in the class on April 9 in Tampa, Fla.

“There was an inside turn from the first to the second jump, and it was a bit tricky, but he’s so brave that I thought I’d try it,” Farrington said. “He jumped that great, and then I really made up some time leaving out a few strides on the way to the double combination. When I’d gotten that done and he was jumping so well, I knew I had a pretty good round going, so I could ease up and make sure to jump the last few clean. He’s got a monster stride, so he’s very quick across the ground.”

Millar, on the other hand, chose discretion over valor and guided Star Power to a conservative clear round almost 5 seconds slower than Farrington.

Next up was McLain Ward, who won the Invitational in 1998 on Twist Du Valon and in 2008 on Sapphire. This night, he was aboard Rothchild, a horse with an unorthodox jumping style but a lot of talent.

Rothchild had impressed Ward in Round 1. “He jumped it easy. That class is always built big, and it’s difficult just walking straight into the stadium. He handled it as easy as any horse I’ve ridden in that class has handled it. He cantered around the first round like he was jumping a 1.30-meter course,” Ward said.

So, Ward stepped on the gas right from the start of his jump-off round. Ward answered Farrington’s challenge by also turning inside from the first to the second fence, but at the next jump—a one-stride oxer-vertical combination—Rothchild came down on the back rail of the oxer. Ward took the blame, saying he was so worried about the tight one-stride distance that he didn’t ride the oxer strongly enough. After the rail fell, Ward eased up on the pace to make sure he jumped the rest clear, stopping the timers at 37.84 seconds.

“I made a little mistake and stuffed him into the double, which ended up costing us the class, but I was thrilled with how he went,” Ward said.

As last to go, Engle also had a rail early and finished up in 38.80 seconds aboard Indigo.
Farrington was thrilled to win a class he used to dream of riding in as a young rider. “It’s an amazing class to win. To see all the names that have won it in the past makes you realize how important a class it is and how much it means to win it. It’s the premier class in the United States,” he said.

Picking Up Where He Left Off

After leading the victory gallop, Farring-ton made a phone call that brought him a smile. Uceko had looked to be a talented young star last winter but had been sidelined by a collateral ligament injury while competing in the selection trials for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Eques-trian Games in February. Farrington took his time bringing Uceko back into top form, and the Invitational win was an emphatic way to show the talented gray was fighting fit.

“It’s never an easy thing to call an owner and tell them their horse has been hurt or that something’s gone wrong, so it’s really nice to be able to call [the Gay family of RCG Farm] and tell them their horse has come back so well and won one of the biggest classes in American show jumping. It’s nice to give back to them because they’ve been great supporters of my career the past few years,” Farrington said.

Farrington started riding Uceko, a Dutch Warmblood (Celano—Patricia, Koriander), four years ago when the gelding was 6. He brought him up in the 6-year-old and 7- and 8-year-old young jumper divisions before debuting him in smaller grand prix classes in late 2008 and early 2009. Uceko spent 2009 earning good grand prix ribbons and won the $50,000 Rood & Riddle Kentucky Grand Prix in August.

After Uceko had most of 2010 off to recover from his injury, Farrington started showing him at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) in February, in the 1.35- and 1.40-meter divisions. Then, on March 20, they placed second in the $100,000 DeLuca Toyota Tundra Grand Prix at the HITS Ocala (Fla.) winter circuit’s final week. The good showing assured Farrington that Uceko was ready for the Invitational.

“When you have such nice young horses coming up, it’s frustrating to then lose so much time with one of them, so it’s rewarding to see him come back strong,” Farrington said.

While it was Uceko’s first time jumping in the electric atmosphere of the Raymond James Stadium under the lights, Farrington wasn’t worried. “Not much intimidates him. He’s a bit of a bully, really. When things get tough, he gets stronger and better, so I thought he’d handle it well,” he said.

“The first round course was everything an Invitational class is known to be,” Farrington added. “[Course designer] Steve Stephens has really put his stamp on those courses. I think they’re some of the biggest courses we jump, and there’s always the atmosphere element and some spooky jumps.”

The atmosphere didn’t help some of the favorites in the class, including Lauren Hough and Quick Study, who have been on a streak of spectacular performances this spring. Quick Study took exception to a liverpool oxer and stopped twice, eliminating them.

Candice King also had a refusal there on Toronto and retired from the course. Great Britain’s Gemma Paternoster, who had turned in impressive performances in the $75,000 WEF Nations Cup in Wellington on March 4, also withdrew Osiris after a dramatic refusal at the fourth fence.