Posted March 13, 2006

Kent Farrington and Madison Capture $150,000 U.S. Open Jumper Championship on Final Sunday at WEF in Wellington

Wellington, FL – March 12, 2006 – A crowd of 8,476 spectators turned out on the final Sunday of the Winter Equestrian Festival at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington. The hit or miss rain showers of the morning gave way to a splendid afternoon, and the wall to wall crowd was treated to a memorable and dazzling display of show jumping excellence from equestrian superstars from sixteen different countries. When the dust had settled though, it was the United States emerging victorious over Bulgaria as Greenwich, Connecticut’s Kent Farrington and 2005 AGA Horse of the Year Madison topped Samantha McIntosh and Loxley for the hard fought win in the $150,000 U.S. Open Jumper Championship, CSIO-5*, presented by CN.

Forty-seven starters lined up for the final event of the Wellington portion of the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival. Steve Stephens of the United States designed today’s U.S Open Jumper Championship course. Scoring was under FEI Art. 238.2.2, Time First Jump-Off. The course featured fourteen numbered obstacles with seventeen jumping efforts, including an early double combination (3a-b) and a late triple combination (11a-b-c). The water jump and nine verticals, combined with a snug time allowed added to today’s test. As tough as the test was, thirteen competitors from six countries mastered the first round course to qualify for the speed round. Another four riders jumped fault free, but failed to get home in time, while eleven horse and rider combinations tallied four faults for their single knockdown. Six riders had two rails, eight duos had more than eight faults, and five were eliminated or retired.

The stage was set and the dazzling all-star jump-off that followed round one was a brilliant display of show jumping skills by one top rider after another.

With twelve to follow her, Olympic Gold Medalist Beezie Madden had the unenviable position of first back for the tiebreaker with Abigail Wexner’s Authentic. Madden’s stellar and speedy clear round of 34.92 seconds would hold up for the eventual fourth place finish. With Madden setting a fast, clean round pace, it was off to the races for the rest.

Ian Millar of Canada followed Madden into the ring with In Style, owned by Susan Grange. Millar’s fast and fleety ride around the eight obstacle short course caught Madden’s time, but the crowd collectively groaned as he also caught the back rail of the final fence in the jump-off. Scoring four faults, Millar clocked in at 33.42 seconds.

Samantha McIntosh of Bulgaria took the lead next with Loxley, owned by Horst Jaeggle and G. Orschel. McIntosh sliced 8/10ths of a second off of Madden’s time, crossing the wire in 34.19 seconds.

Alexander Onyschenko’s Loriot and Gregory Wathelet (UKR) pulled the rail at 15 and registered a time of 34.35.

McLain Ward (USA) and Sapphire, owned by the Double H Farm, also had heartbreak with a knockdown at the final fence, as they cruised home with the time well in hand at 33.44 seconds.

Anne Kursinski of the United States, riding Scott Hakim’s Roxana 112, couldn’t quite catch McIntosh, but moved ahead of Madden by 5/10ths of a second with the third clear ride of the jump-off. Her finish time was 34.48 seconds.

Following Kursinski, Jean Claude Van Geenberghe of the Ukraine moved into fourth place with Osta Rugs Tresor. Producing the fourth clear, his finish time was well off the pace at 36.82 seconds.

Today’s winner Kent Farrington was the eighth rider back for tiebreaker. He and his partner Madison, owned by Alexa Weeks, laid down an incredible trip, knocking a full second off of McIntosh’s time. Farrington put a time of 33.15 seconds at the top of the leader board for the remaining five to chase. And chase they did.

Canada’s Eric Lamaze and Torrey Pines Stable’s Hickstead pulled a rail halfway through the jump-off, but registered the fastest time at that point. Lamaze finished with four in 32.59 seconds. Leopold Van Asten (NED) and VDL Groep Fleche Rouge followed with eight faults in 34.98 seconds.

Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa with his superstar mount, Baloubet du Rouet, owned by Diego Coutinho were ready to set sail next. However, an uncharacteristic two knockdowns for Pessoa relegated him to an eleventh place finish. He scored eight in 34.15 seconds. Pessoa was followed by Georgina Bloomberg (USA) aboard the Gotham Enterprizes’ Cim Christo. Bloomberg matched Pessoa’s score of eight, but finished in 41.34 seconds.

The final rider in the speed round, Laura Kraut, had the crowd on their feet as she blazed a trail for home with a bead on the lead, only to pull a block off the wall at the second to last fence. Kraut finished with the fastest time, but also with four faults. She clocked in at 31.87 seconds, a full second and a half better than Farrington.

“I knew they’d have to chase to catch me,” said Farrington, noting that his turn for home was where he won the class. “I didn’t think it was uncatchable, but I had one less stride on the turn to the wall, and if someone had got that really good and not get as parked as I did, they could have nipped me by a second. I rolled back really short,” he detailed. “I was going to try and leave one out, but I got a little ratty in the turn, and I had to add it in at the last moment. That wall is sort of an awkward fence and it made the eight strides get really long to the last jump. But she’s a fighter, and I’m a fighter so we just kicked on and went for it.”

“I always try and watch the rest of the jump-off at the gate after I’ve gone,” he said. When asked what thoughts were going through his head as one challenger after another took on his top time, Farrington laughed and added, “Slow down!”

“It’s always nice to finish on a high note like that,” he went on to say. “I felt that I sort of let the U.S. team down during the Nations Cup when I had the wall down in the first round. If I wouldn’t have done that, we would have won without the jump-off. So I felt like I had something to prove today.”

Farrington talked about his partner Madison, who leads again for AGA Horse of the Year. “She’s a really special horse. She’s been a career horse for me. I don’t really know how good she can be, that’s yet to be determined. We’ll take her to the World Cup and see how she does there.

Bulgaria’s McIntosh, who returns to Europe tomorrow, was thrilled with her second top finish in as many weeks. “It was pretty tough with thirteen in the jump-off, especially after having only three last week,” she said. “A lot of really good horses, really fast horses. I gave my best, and I think my horse did the same. I’m pretty happy with second place.”

“It was fun,” said third place finisher Kursinski. “Because of the selection trials in two weeks, I started Roxana a little late on purpose. And, we’ve had a little bad luck in each grand prix leading up to this one. You know, one down, one mistake. Today she felt great so I thought, let’s go for it,” she said with a smile. “The footing was much better than I expected. This morning I was nervous about the footing. In fact, I was thinking I might not go with her because of the trials coming up. But it turned out great. She loves to go fast. Today was the perfect preparation for those trials after all,” admitted Kursinski. “I love to represent this country. There is nothing like competing against the best in the world, if you have the horse to do it. And I think I have a great horse to do it. We know each other so much better than we did a year ago.”

Farrington talked about the legendary show jumping stars he beat in today’s main event. “It’s just an honor to be in that class. To have the opportunity to compete against the riders I read about when I was growing up and to win against horses of that caliber is just a real thrill for me.”

Beezie Madden topped Mario Deslauriers of Canada to win the top prize in the FTI Rider Challenge, a new series this year that rewarded consistency. “We don’t have that kind of bonus ($100,000) in show jumping very often, so I’m thrilled to win it,” said Beezie Madden following her victory in the FTI Rider Challenge. “We’re building a house right now, and that amount is about the same amount as we went over budget on, so it’s perfect,” she laughed. Madden was thrilled too with the performance of Authentic, after the trouble on Friday night’s Nations Cup course. “I was very happy. The other night I took a shot with him and he slipped, so I might have been a little conservative today. Luckily, not much bothers him, and he seemed to be right back on form today.”

With the official tally still to come, it was apparent that Sunday’s near capacity crowd pushed the seven week total attendance for this year’s festival to well over 110,000 spectators for the seven week run.

The Winter Equestrian Festival continues on in Tampa, Florida, beginning on March 22 and running through April 1, 2006, at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center on the Florida State Fairgrounds.

The first week in Tampa, the Tampa Bay Classic, features the $75,000 Grand Prix of Tampa, presented by Kilkenny/ICH, CSI-W and the $25,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series, Round VIII. The Grand Prix of Tampa is the final East Coast League World Cup qualifying class, and along with the Thursday WEF Challenge Cup, is one of three remaining qualifying events for the $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational at Raymond James Stadium.

Week two in Tampa, the last week of the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival, is the Tournament of Champions. Thursday’s $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series Final, is the last chance to qualify for the Budweiser American Invitational.

The 34th Annual $200,000 Budweiser American Invitational presented by The Tampa Tribune and Kash n’ Karry, is the showcase event of this year’s WEF and takes place on Saturday, April 1, 2006, at 7:00 p.m. under the lights at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.

Results of Class 100 $150,000 US Open Jumper Championship - CSIO5*-Internationale Arena – 3/12/06 - CN Wellington Finale CSIO 5* US

• 1 1332 KENT FARRINGTON USA MADISON 0.00 85.23 0.00 33.15 $45000 ALEXA WEEKS
• 2 3133 SAMANTHA MCINTOSH BUL LOXLEY 0.00 83.33 0.00 34.19 $33000 HORST JAEGGLE
• 3 1182 ANNE KURSINSKI USA ROXANA 112 0.00 85.78 0.00 34.48 $19500 SCOTT HAKIM
• 4 1099 BEEZIE MADDEN USA AUTHENTIC 0.00 79.12 0.00 34.92 $12000 ABIGAIL S. WEXNER
• 5 3136 JEAN-CLAUDE GEENBERG UKR OSTA RUGS TRESOR 0.00 85.88 0.00 36.82 $9000 ARNOLD DE BRABANDERE
• 6 3101 LAURA KRAUT USA PANIC 0.00 85.87 4.00 31.87 $7500 PANIC PARTNERSHIP
• 7 1869 ERIC LAMAZE CAN HICKSTEAD 0.00 85.81 4.00 32.59 $6000 TORREY PINES STBLE
• 8 964 IAN MILLAR CAN IN STYLE 0.00 85.66 4.00 33.42 $4500 SUSAN GRANGE
• 9 562 MCLAIN WARD USA SAPPHIRE 0.00 85.09 4.00 33.44 $4500 DOUBLE H FARM
• 10 3123 GREGORY WATHELET UKR LORIOT 0.00 87.44 4.00 34.35 $3000 ALEXANDER ONYSHCHENKO
• 11 781 RODRIGO PESSOA BRA BALOUBET DU ROUET 0.00 84.24 8.00 34.15 $3000 DIOGO COUTINHO
• 12 3302 LEOPOLD V ASSTEN NED VDL GROEP FLECHE ROUGE 0.00 83.87 8.00 34.98 $3000 STOETERY DUYSELHOF
• 13 2579 GEORGINA BLOOMBERG USA CIM CHRISTO 0.00 86.84 8.00 41.34 GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES
• 14 2680 HENRIK S. GUNDERSEN DEN DARVIN GARBO 1.00 88.55 HENRIK S. GUNDERSEN
• 15 893 CANDICE KING USA COCO CABANA 1.00 89.61 LOUISBURG FARM

Final FTI Rider Challenge Standings

PHOTO CREDIT: Kent Farrington and Madison Take US Open Jumper Championship at Wellington. ©Peter Llewellyn HorseSource Ltd and PhelpsSports.com