SAUGERTIES, N.Y.--Kent Farrington won the $62,480 CSI3* Welcome Stake at HITS Saugerties for the third week straight, this time time on Grass de Mars on Thursday, July 31.
Kent Farrington on Grass de Mars McLain Ward on La Sera placed second in the Welcome Stake and then went on to win the $40,000 Winning Round on Friday, Aug.1
In the Welcome Stake,over a course set by Ken Krome, 14 went clean to go on to the jump-off.
The leading time changed hands several times, but Farrington, with the advantage of being last to go, shaved a mere three hundredths of a second off Ward’s previous leading time of 33.49 seconds to win in a time of 33.46 seconds.
“She’s been a winner right from the beginning,” said Farrington. “She was winning classes when she was 8 and she’s just 9 this year. She already jumped some 1.60m rounds, and I don’t know how many international classes she’s won, but a good share of them have been at the five-star level, so very proud of the horse and happy with the progress.”
THE WIN marked the third welcome stake victory in a row for Farrington, and his fourth FEI win of the series overall.
McLain Ward on La Serra “I have great horses and I have great support behind me,” he said. “I have great partners with the horses. Katie Jacobs and I own this horse together and she’s a new supporter for me. Plus, I have great staff around me. I think it’s a combination of all of those things combined with riding and training. It doesn’t matter how well you ride or train if you don’t have the team behind it.
“I think the Northeast, particularly the New York and Connecticut area has always been very strong in show jumping,” he said of his decision to participate in this year’s Hudson Valley Jumping Tour. “It did get quiet there for a while with a lack of shows or a lack of good enough venues for us to train our horses, but now the team here at HITS has improved the footing and put in a great set of jumps, so it has really become a great place for us to produce horses and do sport in between our international travel.”
Ward was second, while Egypt’s Nayel Nassar was clean in 34.07 seconds on S&L Maracana, to place third.
On Friday, Ward won the $40,000 Winning Round on his new rising star, La Serra.
A total of 24 competed, and, as per the winning round format, the top 12 riders returned on a clean slate for the jump-off in reverse order of their first-round performance.
Eight were clean in the opening round, while one had a single time fault, and another three finished with four faults over the course.
In the second round, Ward was clean in 35.25 seconds to win.
“She’s had a great week, and, really, she’s had a great season, particularly after Florida,” said Ward. “She has really started to rack up some great results. We’ve moved her up a little bit to some bigger classes recently, and she’s handled them well. I’m very proud of how she’s performing."
“She’s a very careful mare, so she’s been a little slow in developing,” he said. “It took some time, but I think for sure she is starting to come into her own.”
Olympian Nayel Nassar of Egypt on Coronado had four faults in the first round, but was clean and fast in round two with a time of 35.97 seconds to place second.
Ireland's Philip McGuane on My Lady van de Krekel, was third, clean in 37.35 seconds.
“The Northeast, in general, has really attracted most of the top people in the United States back to this region of the country,” said Ward . “It’s such a wonderful part of the country, and maybe I’m biased because I live here. I think the job that HITS has done here clearly proves if you invest in a first class facility, the top competitors will come and compete.”
