Farrington and Austria 2 Speed to Victory at Toronto’s Royal Horse Show

Kent Farrington of the United States took first place in the $37,000 Jolera International Strength and Speed Challenge on Wednesday at the Royal Horse Show, held as part of the 97th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, in Toronto, ON.

Horse and rider combinations were challenged to negotiate an opening strength phase set by Canadian course designer Michel Vaillancourt before immediately advancing to a speed phase. Farrington did so in the fastest time, stopping the speed phase clock in 25.82 seconds with Austria 2, owned by Take The High Road LLC. 

“The horse is naturally very quick which is a big advantage, especially in a small indoor ring,” said Farrington of Austria 2, an 11-year-old Holsteiner mare (Casall x Corrado I). “She's a really feisty mare. It’s actually my favorite type of horse. She’s small. She’s light. She’s extremely athletic and very fast, so for me it’s a super horse.”

Farrington is a frequent competitor at the Royal Horse Show and won the feature event, the $210,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Toronto, in 2017. “I think this is the best indoor show that we have in North America,” said Farrington, 38, who was a member of the U.S. silver medal team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “There is always great support from the Canadian crowd. It’s a small group of riders but a strong group of riders. It always feels good to win a class here.”

Ireland’s Conor Swail set the leading pace as the first rider into the Coca-Cola Coliseum. Swail took a daring approach with GK Coco Chanel to the final fence which paid off with a time of 26.03 seconds that would hold up for second place. Eric Lamaze took third place with a time of 26.56 seconds riding Chacco Kid.

Source: Toronto Royal Horse Show Press Release