WELLINGTON, Fla--Kent Farrington won yet again, this time on Grass de Mars in the $62,500, CSI5* 1.50m Classic on Sunday, Feb. 23 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Kent Farrington on Grass de Mars (Photo by Sportfot)With Grass de Mars, Farrington has another top contender coming up the ranks to add to Greya and Toulayna, with which he has recently won two 5* Grand Prix in Wellington and a World Cup qualifier in Thermal, Calif.
“I got the horse with the Philippaerts family, but I bought them out, so I own the horse together with Katie Robinson,” he said of Grass de Mars, a 9-year-old Selle Français mare. “It’s been a new partnership for me, and we’re off to a good start. I’m very impressed with this horse at just 9 to go in and jump a class like that. She’s still growing into herself so it will be fun to see what we have.”
The Classic was a Winning Round class, in which at least 12 go on to the jump-off, and in this class 12 went clean over the course set by Anthony d"Ambrosio to go on to the Winning Round.
“SHE HAS a big stride and turns on a dime,” Farrington said. “She did an exceptional job to the third fence. Then I let her open up, and I was amazed by how big her stride is. She can carve up the lines and still be dropping out strides which makes her exceptionally fast in a big ring.”
Farrington’s time of 40.93 seconds couldn’t quite be caught, though Olympic Champion Christian Kukuk of Germany came very close with Espoir Blanc Cristal, placing second in 40.97 seconds.
Jordan Coyle of Ireland was third on For Gold, clean in 41.16.
“I've been doing this a long time; you try to enjoy the wins when things go well, ride the high waves, and ride the low waves,” Farrington said. “I love what I do, I love working with the horses, and I love producing the horses. It’s really a pleasure for me to see them get to a higher level like this and show what they can do.”
“Today’s sport is so refined, and there's so much nuance in what we do, so it takes time to build a partnership," he said. "The more time you put into that and the more you enjoy the process the better partnership you have with your horse.”
Grace Debney of Great Britain on Jesprit H.S. won the $62,500 CSI2* Grand Prix in a 13 horse jump-off from a starting field of 45.
“She’s special in a lot of ways,” Debney said of the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare who she’s had since the mare was 8.
“She’s obviously an amazing horse, but she’s also the favorite in the barn," said Debney. "She has a huge personality, and she’s just got a lot going on. She either hates you or loves you so I’m happy to say she loves me.”
Debney was second to last to go in the jump-off, and she changed her plan when she saw how fast the other riders were going.
“I watched the first really good ones go and I was like, ‘Uh oh, I have no choice," she said. "I had to leave out. I had to get it done.”
“She fights for you,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling when you’re going around and you’re fighting hard for a clear and so is the horse.”
She left out strides from several lines and took risks everywhere, even slicing on her way into the double combination.
Jacob Pope on Highway FBH was second, and Charlotte Jacobs on Korbach van de Renger was third.
