TRAVERSE CITY, Mich,--Kent Farrington on Diakatisa won the $31,100 CSI3* Speed on Friday, June 19 during week three of the Traverse City Spring Series.
Kent Farrington on Diakatisa (Photo by Natalie Suto Photography)World No. 1 Farrington uses Traverse City to develop his younger horses into international competitors.
There were 27 entries competing over the oourse set by Andy Christiansen of Ecuador, and nine went clean.
Farrington finished in 59.24 to win by over three seconds, with Charlotte Bettendorf on Kalliope second in 62.93 and Victoria Heurtematte on Condara third in 63.84.
“I thought my horse was great,” Farrinton said. “With her I wanted to practice going full tempo and teaching her to look for the jumps. I think she handled it great today.”
Despite going later in the order, Farrington said he didn’t change anything about his plan with Diakatisa.
“Overall her rate of speed is just higher than most horses,” he said. “I did a couple fast options and kept the track tight around the end, but I don’t think there was one spot that took the class today.”
FARRINGTON typically spends the early summer in Traverse City developing younger horses before returning later in the season with a more established string for the Traverse City Fall Series.
“There are a lot of different levels of classes that I can get in the main ring and jump, from small to building my way up into the FEI division,” he said. “I can go back down if they need that. It’s a very productive few weeks for me in the summer.”
“We’ve got a bunch of young talented horses and I never get too up and never get too down,” he said. “I just keep developing the horses and see what they want to do in the sport. Ultimately that final decision is out of my hands. I put them in the best position to be their best.”
“In the summer you can see the best people producing their stars for the future that ultimately might be on the biggest stage like the Olympic Games or a World Cup Final,” he said.
