USA’s Kent Farrington wins Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Lexington leg in Kentucky

Riding his 2016 Rio Olympics mount Voyeur, the current world number four rider and recent Olympic team silver medallist come out top of a jump-off field of 14 to win the $250,000 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Lexington event.

The Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington was the venue for the fourth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 North American League, Eastern sub league which saw 40 horse and rider combinations come forward to tackle the course set by Canada’s Michel Vaillancourt.

Only fourteen of those combinations went clear in the first round to progress to the jump-off decider as majority of the class’s rounds recorded, at most, four faults.

The track in the final round enticed riders to take sharp turns, but as the rails began to drop, the risk of the sharp angles to the fences became clear with only three combinations going clear.

USA’s Callan Solem delivered the first double clear aboard VDL Wizard, recording a time of 40.69 seconds.
However their efforts were eclipsed a couple riders later as Farrington shaved almost four seconds off Solem’s time, going clear in a time of 36.93 seconds.

Solem went on to finish in second as another American rider Molly Ashe on Carissimo came in with the third and final double clear performance in a time of 45.86 seconds to take third place on the podium.

Victory for Farrington means nothing has changed on the top of the leader boards of the Longines FEI World Cup North American League as the USA rider holds onto the top position in the Eastern Sub-League standings and has strengthened his lead with a total of 62 points. He is still followed by Audrey Coulter on 42 points, with Lauren Tisbo in third with 36 points, Jonathan McCrea one place further back in fourth on 33 points and Charlie Jacobs in fifth on 32 points.

In the Western Sub-League, Karl Cook still leads the way with 38 points followed by Jenni MCallister on 36 points, Eduardo Menezes in third with 32 points, Christopher Surbey next on 30 points and Nayel Nassar in fifth place with 30 points.

The next event in Longines FEI World Cup North American League takes place at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario on Wednesday, 9 November.
Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 North American League
Eastern Sub-League
Result – Leg 4: Lexington, Kentucky, USA

1. Voyeur (Kent Farrington) USA 0/0 faults 36.93 seconds
2. VDL Wizard (Callan Solem) USA 0/0 40.69
3. Carissimo (Molly Ashe) USA 0/0 45.86
4. Aristoteles V (Jonathan McCrea) USA 0/2 49.67
5. HH Azur (McLain Ward) USA 0/4 38.19
6. Callas III (Danielle Torano) USA 0/4 41.39
7. Cristalline (Adrienne Sternlicht) USA 0/4 42.83
8. Carrabis Z (Richie Moloney) Ireland 0/4 46.56
9. Lilli (Georgina Bloomberg) USA 0/5 48.04
10. Coriandolo di Ribano (Lauren Tisbo) USA 0/6 49.24
Longines FEI World Cup Jumping 2016/2017 North American League
Western Sub-League
Standings after Leg 4 in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

1. Kent Farrington USA 62 points
2. Audrey Coulter USA 42
3. Lauren Tisbo USA 36
4. Jonathan McCrea USA 33
5. Charlie Jacobs USA 32
6. Jack Towell USA 28
7. Laura Kraut USA 26
8. Keean White Canada 24
9. Georgina Bloomberg Canada 20
10. Ljubov Kochetova Russia 18