Five-star action at the Kentucky Horse Park extended late into the evening Saturday, with show jumpers taking over from eventer for the $400,000 Kentucky International Grand Prix CSI5*—the first time the jumper competition has been elevated to the five-star level. 

Nine pairs from the field of 40 moved forward to the jump-off, but it was the first to return over the shortened course—world No. 2 Kent Farrington aboard Greya—who claimed top honors with a blazing double-clear round in 42.93 seconds. Two-time Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam was second aboard James Kann Cruz (45 seconds), and Mimi Gochman of the U.S. was third riding Inclen BH (46.06).

Farrington gave all the credit to the horse he calls a quintessential modern show jumper. 

“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.” 

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 17-effort, 1.60-meter 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 (Colestus—Contessa 128, Contender) 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.” 

Watch their winning jump-off here, courtesy of USEF Network, powered by ClipMyHorse.tv:

The Kentucky International, organized by Split Rock Jumping Tour, is hosted as part of the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event, organized by Equestrian Events, Inc. This is the first year it was held as a CSI5*, making the Kentucky Horse Park the only location in the world to host a CCI5*-L and a CSI5*—as well as the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S—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 five-star level,” said Derek Braun, president of the Split Rock Jumping Tour. “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,” added 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.”

See complete Kentucky International results here.