Kent Farrington Wins Second Straight ATCO QE II Cup at Spruce Meadows

American Kent Farrington successfully defended his title in the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Spruce Meadows on Saturday. The top-ranked show jumper in the world and his mare Gazelle were flawless through two rounds and in the three-rider jump-off to secure the victory. 

Farrington is a three-time winner, having also claimed the title in 2014. “To have the win here on the final week of the Summer Series, on a two-round grand prix with top prize money, I am just thrilled with the horse today,” Farrington said.

This prestigious grand prix, inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth in 1990, has become a momentous event. Riding the amazingly fast and athletic mare Gazelle, owned by Farrington and Robin Parsky, the level of competition was brought to an outstanding high after a challenging first round brought back the top 12 placed riders each of notable talent, representing eight different nations.

Farrington’s main competitors in the jump-off? Canada's Eric Lamaze and Germany's Philipp Weishaupt. "My strategy is more to put enough pressure on this guy," Farrington said, pointing to Lamaze seated beside him. "He's an unbelievably competitive rider, and he's riding one of the fastest horses in the world. I have to go fast enough that he has to go for it, without taking all the risk out where I knock a fence down and I hand him the class for free. I have a naturally fast horse, and that makes a big difference. Eric also has a naturally fast horse. Someone like Philipp has a much bigger challenge on his hands that takes a very good plan and sophisticated riding. So our job is a little easier.

“Today was a very nice course set by Santiago—I believe these two round grands prix are usually built with the first round as a qualifier to the second – then the second he’ll turn the screws a little tighter, the jumps are bigger and the time is quite short so it definitely puts more pressure on the riders,” Farrington said. “I think you saw the quality of the field today with Lamaze, Weishaupt and myself on the horse that won last year in the final throws.”

Farrington now heads to Europe to compete there until he returns to Spruce Meadows for The Masters in September.

Source: Noelle Floyd and Calgary Sun