Lexington, Ky.—Nov. 5

 The first five riders in the ring for the jump-off of the $250,000 Longines Lexington FEI World Cup qualifier went for it—raced against the clock, tried sharp turns and dashed towards long distances. Then Kent Farrington and Voyeur entered the ring, galloping—flying, really—around nearly 4 seconds faster (36.93 seconds) than second-placed Callan Solem on VDL Wizard (40.69 seconds), with a round that looked impossible to catch. 

And the next eight riders in the 14-horse jump-off? They were playing for second place, and no one else on the start list even really tried to match, much less best, Farrington’s time. McLain Ward came closest with HH Azur in 38.19 seconds, but a rail down pushed them into fifth. 

Kent Farrington and Voyeur. Photo by Lisa Slade.

“I was really hungry to win something tonight,” said Farrington. “I haven’t won anything this whole show; I don’t think anyone even knew I was here. Last week in Washington [International, D.C.], I also didn’t win. I was looking for redemption to say the least. 

“My plan was to be super aggressive in the jump-off and try to make everyone chase me after that,” he continued. “I thought my horse was fantastic. He’s also a speed specialist, and I just try and keep him under control at the end of a course to make sure he doesn’t get running too fast.” 

Michel Vaillancourt set tonight’s track, which resulted in the 14 first round clears out of 40 starters. When asked if he’d thought that many would jump clear, Vaillancourt smiled.

“Not really, to be honest,” he said. “First of all, I knew we had a strong field competing tonight. 

“I do blame management for providing such good footing,” he joked. “The time might have been tighter, but I don’t know if it would have made a difference because the fences I thought would cause problems didn’t. Basically, I really praise these athletes and how prepared they came in to negotiate the course. They showed us they’re top quality, and we should be proud we have such top quality competition in America. The quality of riding, the quality of horses, the way we manage them, the way we prepare the footing—it all comes into play, and our job is getting tougher and tougher thanks to you guys.” 

Callan Solem and VDL Wizard. Photo by Lisa Slade.

Winning in Kentucky’s a familiar feeling for Farrington. At last year’s CP National Horse Show here he won both the $250,000 Longines Grand Prix with the Amalaya Investments’ Voyeur and the $130,000 GP Grand Prix aboard Willow. But since then he was on the silver medal-winning U.S. team at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Voyeur. Now the gelding will have about a one month break before Farrington flies him to Europe for a few competitions.   

“I don’t know if [the jump-off] went exactly to plan,” he said. “I don’t think it was my smoothest round, but, as I said, I was really hungry to win. I was going to go out there and try to lay down a difficult round to beat. I thought my horse delivered tonight. When you’re going that fast, and you roll back to the fences that short, there’s a moment where you’re sort of calling on the horse to make a big effort. I’m glad I’m not in the equitation final tonight, but I’m happy to win a chunk of money.”

As for Solem, she spent the summer competing on Nations Cup teams in Europe with Wizard. Even though she’d set her time before Farrington went, she admitted she couldn’t have caught him tonight.

“I couldn’t have really made a plan that would have beat him tonight on that horse,” she said. “I am thrilled with my horse, and he also has had a big year. He’s my only horse for these kinds of competitions, so he’s had a fairly full schedule, and he felt as good tonight as he did in January.” 

Molly Ashe-Cawley and Carissimo. Photo by Lisa Slade.

Molly Ashe-Cawley picked up third place on the 16-year-old Carissimo with a slower clear in the jump-off.

“I was hoping for exactly what happened in the jump-off,” she said. “I was nervous to do the inside turn from fence 1 to 2 because I didn’t know if he’d jump it actually at this stage in the game. I played it safe and went quick around and tried to get an OK time without knocking anything down. I would have ended up in exactly the same place if I’d gone inside.” 

Jonathan McCrea and Aristoteles V finished fourth. Photo by Lisa Slade.

McLain Ward and HH Azur took fifth. Photo by Lisa Slade.

Danielle Torano and Callas III earned sixth. Photo by Lisa Slade.

See full results for the grand prix.