Kent Farrington and Dublin. PC: Spruce Meadows Media
Kent Farrington must be feeling the high of his newfound glory atop the FEI World Rankings as the best rider in the world. On Wednesday he claimed not one but two massive cups at the Spruce Meadows North American Tournament, both aboard the gray heart-throbs in his string.
His first victory came on the up and coming Dublin, a ten-year-old ZfDP gelding who paired up with Kent in February of this year at Wellington. They had to fend of 71 other combinations in the 1.50m Kubota Cup, with only six making it to the jump-off. Kent and Dublin stopped the clock in a feverish 37.65 to take the win.
“What a great way to start,” said Farrington after the victory. “I really wanted to use the Summer Series at Spruce Meadows to build Dublin into a top international horse, and there is no place better to do than at Spruce Meadows. It is the best for finding out how good a horse can be.”
Kent and Uceko Earn PWC Cup
Kent Farrington and Uceko. PC: Spruce Meadows Media
Later that same day Kent also claimed victory in the 1.55m PWC Cup, this time aboard the 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Uceko. In contrast to Dublin, Uceko and Kent have truly grown up together; in fact, Kent has been Uceko’s only pilot for the entirety of his career.
“He’s really been a great horse for my career,” Kent said after his second win. “I got him at the end of his six-year-old year and he’s been a mainstay at my stable. Uceko really brought my career to an international level and I owe him a lot for that and I’m very proud that he is still able to go out and win like he did today. Uceko is a special horse, he really has his own way to win – which is different from most of the other horses. He’s able to leave out strides that I don’t think many other horses can do while still leaving the fences up so that gives me a big advantage.”
Long careers, short partnerships – the world’s #1 can make magic out of them all. Stay tuned to see what else Kent can claim at the North American Tournament in Spruce Meadows this weekend!
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Kent receives the PWC Cup. PC: Spruce Meadows Media