Wellington, Fla. – Jan. 16, 2020 – Week two of the 2020 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) continued on Thursday, January 16, bringing top showjumping competition to the International Arena of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center for Round II of the WEF Challenge Cup. A total of 105 entries made up the competitive field of horse-and-rider combinations, all vying for the lion’s share of money and qualification to compete in Saturday night’s $73,000 NetJets Grand Prix CSI2*. In the end, it was Kent Farrington (USA) and Kaprice that bested the field to lead the victory gallop in the $37,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round II.
Set by Oscar Soberon (USA), the first round track posed to be a challenging course for many. Thirteen obstacles, including a triple combination, water jump and triple-bar, asked difficult questions of both horses and riders as they made their best efforts to navigate clear rounds. Brian Moggre and MTM Flutterby, owned by Major Wager LLC., were the first pair to complete the round clear and under the time allowed of 71 seconds with a time of 69.82.
Out of the 103 rides, 22 horse-and-rider duos managed to secure themselves a spot in the jump-off. Taylor St. Jacques went early in the jump-off and set a quick speed of 38.627 over the eight obstacle course, putting her in first place. St. Jacques held the lead for a while, and it wasn’t until Abigail McArdle caught her with a time of 38.369 that St. Jacques moved to second and McArdle moved to first. Surpassing both, showjumping veteran Kent Farrington came out on top of the class with his mount Kaprice, owned by Farrington and Haity McNerney, with a speedy time of 37.447 in the jump-off.
McArdle and her ride Victorio 5, owned by Victorio Equine Group LLC., finished with a second place ribbon. St. Jacques and her horse, Upsilon De La Liniere, celebrated a third place finish.
Jumper competition at the Winter Equestrian Festival will continue on Friday, January 17 with the $2,500 High Amateur Owner Jumpers at 8:00 a.m. in the International Arena. The highlight event of the week, the $73,000 NetJets Grand Prix CSI2*, will kick-off at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 18, drawing large local crowds from the Wellington area to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Kent Farrington – $37,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round II winner
On his rounds:
“For this level of competition I’m producing younger horses, so for me, it was more about what the horse is ready to do than how fast the class is going. Kaprice is naturally very quick, and she grows in her confidence off riding with a bit of speed because she is extremely careful. It’s an incredible horse and it’s all about keeping her confidence high.”
On developing Kaprice:
“I spent a lot of time not showing. She had a lot of blood and energy, so I spent almost a year playing with her on the flat and jumping really small fences to get her more manageable. In the last year, she has come into her own.”
On his plans for Kaprice:
“My plan is to grow her this season. With things like Tokyo coming up, it’s great that we have WEF and this new ground to jump on. I’m confident here to show all my horses and it’s a great place to produce horses.”
RESULTS
$37,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup Round II
Place / Horse / Rider / Country / R1 Faults | Time / R2 Faults | Time
1. Kaprice / Kent Farrington / USA / 0 | 69.61 / 0 37.447
2. Victorio 5 / Abigail McArdle / USA / 0 | 68.17 / 0 | 38.369
3. Upsilon De La Liniere / Taylor St. Jacques / USA / 0 | 68.34 / 0 | 38.627
4. Venice Beach / Rodrigo Pessoa / BRA / 0 | 67.99 / 0 | 38.825
5. Baloppi / Lacey Gilbertson / USA / 0 | 69.6 / 0 | 39.017
6. Boheme De La Rogue / Marie Hecart / FRA / 0 | 70.13 / 0 | 39.988
7. Baloutinue / Adam Prudent / USA / 0 | 69.14 / 0 | 40.57
8. Abracadabra WKT / Daniel Bedoya / BOL / 0 | 69.97 / 0 | 40.806
9. Amice Z / Charlie Jayne / USA / 0 | 70.9 / 0 / 44.15
10. MTM Flutterby / Brian Moggre / USA / 0 | 69.82 / 4 | 37.224
11. Akuna Mattata / Nicole Shahinian-Simpson / USA / 0 | 68.76 / 4 | 37.534
12. Brighton / Tiffany Foster / CAN / 0 | 65.82 | 4 / 37.553