TORONTO, Canada--World No. 2 Kent Farrington on Rexton won the $116,500 CSI5*-W Big Ben International Challenge on Thursday night, Nov, 12 at the Royal Horse Show
Kent Farrington on Rexton (Photo by Ben Radvanyi)Riding another new, young rising star, Farrinton won in a 10-horse jump-off.
Over the course set by Bernardo Cost Cabral of Portugal, Farrington finished clean in 32.96 seconds.
The 2024 World Cup qualifier winner, Alex Matz on Ikigai finished second in 33.06 seconds, and McKayla Langmeier on Gangster WW was third in 34.84.
The Royal Horse Show, which runs Nov. 6-15, is part of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, the largest combined indoor agricultural fair and international equestrian competition in the world.
“I always love coming here. There’s so much tradition,” Farrington said. “There’s a great crowd and great atmosphere. I’m happy to be back and happy to have a win.”
Just one-tenth of a second separated the top two, but Farrington had the advantage of going after Matz.
“THE PLAN was actually to push Rexton a little bit and test him at a bit of speed, try to compete in the class to win,” Farrington said. “I’m thrilled with my horse. Running down to the last, you go with a lot of trust, and I have a lot of trust with him.”
Farrington got Rexton earlier this year, but he’s been watching the horse for a much longer period as they grey developed under Christoph Zimmermann and Janne-Friederike Meyer Zimmermann in Germany.
“I actually rode him once as a young horse, and he was quite green at that time,” Farrington said. “But I liked him, and then I circled back on him the last time I was in Europe, and we brought him home with us.”
The Big Ben International Challenge is named after the legendary jumping partner of Ian Millar.
Millar and Big Ben competed in three Olympic Games together and won consecutive editions of the World Cup Finals in 1988 and 1989—when Farrington was just 9years old.
“I watched all of his videos. I had Ian Miller’s book when I was a kid, so actually it was a great moment in the sport for me as I got up to higher levels to get to know Ian. He was a a great kind of mentor to me early on in my career at the shows,” Farrington said. “He would always give me advice when I walked the course if I had questions. He was very kind and so I’m always grateful for his advice that he gave me along the way.”
Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazi on Hard’rock AF won Thursday’s opening five-star competition, the $32,000 CSI5*-W Brickenden Trophy.
First to go in the class, Pessoa set a standard that couldn’t be matched, crossing the timers in 53.06 seconds.
Reigning World Cup qualifier champion Conor Swail on Casturano placed second in 53.24 seconds, and Daniel Coyle on VDL Mourinho was third in 54.35.
Pessoa and Hard’rock AF, a 9-year-old Selle Francais gelding, have only been partnered about six months, and Thursday’s victory marked the first individual win of their partnership in international competition.
