WELLINGTON, Fla.--World No. 2 Kent Farrington on Greya won the $1,000,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix, a Rolex Series Event, in front of a huge crowd of 10,000 on March 28 during Saturday Night Lights.
Kent Farrington on Greya (Photo by Sportfot)
From a field of 40 that included six of the world’s top 10-ranked athletes, five advanced to the jump-off over Olympic course designer Guilherme Jorge’s track.
"This was a million dollar class," said Farrington. "It had the best riders in the world. It was an incredibly strong starting field."
World number 2 Ben Maher of Great Britain on Enjeu de Grisien was first to go in the jump-off and finished clean in a fast time of 43,72
Third in the order, Farrington finished in 42.99 seconds to take over the lead, but had to wait through the last two very fast riders, Darragh Kenny of Ireland on Eddy Blue and Richie Vogel of Germany on Gangster Montdesir.
KENNY had a rail down, but Vogel was clean and faster than Farrington approaching the last fence.
Ben Maher on Enjeu de Grisien (Photo by Sportfot)But Vogel had the last fence down to finish third in 42.99, leaving the win to Farrington, with Maher second.
Kenny was fourth with four faults in 44.30, and Jordan Coyle of Ireland on Chaccolino was fifth with four faults in 44.57.
“You never know if it’s perfect until the class is over, but I thought I put in a very competitive round,” said Farrington of his first five-star win of the year with Greya. “It’s always great to win at home. Wellington has become an equestrian community. They get a great local crowd that comes out here and cheers for all of us, but particularly the American riders, so it’s exciting to win here at home.”
Greya has 10 five-star grand prix victories.
“You have some good horses, maybe even some great horses, and then you have horses that are an outlier athlete, like I believe she is.," said Farrington. "She can do everything; she’s fast, she’s careful, she’s scopey, she’s rideable, she’s an incredible horse.”
"She's athletic, intelligent and careful, and she jumped her heart out tonight," he said.
“The best riders come out for these events, so we always have the highest level of sport, great prize money, and the prestige of a Rolex event puts us on the map,” said Farrington.
“It’s always hard to go first when you have these guys after,” said Maher. “Kent’s always there, and he’s always fast, but I’m proud of my horse. I’m happy and disappointed at the same time."
“There’s nothing he can’t do,” said Maher of Enjeu. “He was a little slow developing, but the older he gets, the better.”
“That’s why our sport is so exciting, it’s only over when it’s over,” Vogel said. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t great riding to the last fence, I should have done one less stride. Gangster was right there with me, and I’m super proud of how he performed and how he jumped."
“From the start, he answered all the questions,” said Vogel. “Every show he went to, he delivered, and he always tried his best. We have very high hopes for him. He could not have done anything better today.”
WEF first was part of the Rolex Series in 2025, joining a list of the most renowned equestrian sport venues in the world, including Rome, Italy; La Baule, France; Falsterbo, Sweden; Dinard, France; Dublin, Ireland; and Brussels, Belgium.
To open the evening, Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam was presented with the $25,000 Leading International Rider Award as the rider with the most points throughout the season.
