Kent Farrington and Jasper Take Two Wins During the Penultimate Week of the ESP Summer Series
Kent Farrington and Jasper Take Two Wins During the Penultimate Week of the ESP Summer Series
Kent Farrington and Jasper, who he owns with Tanma Corp, earned two top honors on the derby field in Wellington during the second-to-last week of the ESP Summer Series.
The highlight of Friday’s competition was the $10,000 Bainbridge Companies 1.40m Open Stake, where Farrington and Jasper mastered the jump-off in 40.352 seconds–over two seconds faster than the runner up.
The duo also claimed top honors in Sunday’s $20,000 Joe DiMaggio Children’s Health Specialty Center Grand Prix after they completed the jump-off in just 36.058 seconds. Following close behind with a jump-off time of 36.624 seconds was Hilary McNerney of Wellington, FL and her entry Chuck 27. Farrington returned to the winner’s circle for third-place honors with Haity McNerney’s Kaprice after a 36.645-second jump-off.
A total of 26 combinations entered the competition, with 11 pairs continuing on to the second round to test Guilherme Jorge’s course set on the derby field. After his win, Farrington revealed that he prefers having the Grand Prixs on the grass: “I think it’s more natural for the horses. The bigger setting on a huge field like this is great because they can work out of a real, natural gallop. I actually think they jump easier and the ground is more forgiving, so for me that’s the best for the horses and the sport.”
This is Farrington’s latest in a list of wins at the ESP Summer Series, and when asked what his secret to success was, he answered, “There’s no real secret. I think as everyone knows you need great horses. I feel very fortunate to have great people around me on my team. Not only on the owner side, but also on my staff side. And the most important factor being that I have great horses and I feel very fortunate to have Susan Chu owning [Jasper] with me along with the McNerney family, whose daughter finished second today and their other horse [Kaprice] finished third, so I think that shows the full strength of our horse power.”
Farrington plans to continue showing at PBIEC throughout the Fall and looks forward to the addition of the FEI 3* competition.