Kent Farrington's newcomer Descartes SR wins his first CSI5* Grand Prix in Kentucky
Descartes – Farrington’s next high-flyer of the Greya variety
from Dominique Wehrmann 
Kent Farrington and Descartes SR win the Major League of Showjumping stage in Kentucky. Photo: MLSJ/Meraki Creative Group At the beginning of January, World Cup winner Kent Farrington won a national Grand Prix in Ocala with a nine-year-old horse that he already said at the time had “incredible ability and a lot of power”. The horse’s name is Descartes SR.
This son of Caramelo has now competed in his first five-star Grand Prix at the Major League of Showjumping (MLSJ) in Kentucky, having placed well several times after a promising start to the year in Ocala. Descartes obviously makes up for his lack of experience with talent. He won the test by exactly 0.5 seconds ahead of McLain Ward, who had recovered from a fall, with High Star Hero and the Irish Olympic and championship pair Shane Sweetnam/James Kann Cruz. Farrington and Descartes SR were the first pair in the jump-off, but were the only pair to cross the finish line in less than 40 seconds.
Richard Vogel and Abou-Chaker NRW reached the jump-off, but had 16 penalty points. That was enough for sixth place, while René Dittmer and Corsica X missed the jump-off after a knockdown in the normal course. Christian Kukuk and Fantasia de Wy made nine faults.
McLain Ward, who had won five stars with High Star Hero in Wellington at the end of February, took the defeat in his stride. “Of course I’m a bit disappointed, but losing to the man I think is the best in the world in this sport at the moment is also a consolation.”
A rare mixture
Kent Farrington’s next superstar is a Mexican sport horse with mainly Holstein and Dutch ancestors – based on a Trakehner mare line – in his pedigree. Before the gelding switched to Farrington last fall on a tip from fellow Mexican show jumper Frederico Pasquel (Farrington: “Francisco Pasquel called me and said he had an incredible horse for me in Mexico. I would have to come and try it out.”), he belonged to Rancho Santa Rosa, hence the “SR” in the name.
Farrington, who is not really known for getting carried away with ecstatic jubilation, was downright euphoric after his victory: “I am totally thrilled with this horse. He has an incredible canter. He has the scope of a racehorse and still has the power for a high jump at the last obstacle – a rare combination of qualities in a horse. I had complete confidence in him right up to the last obstacle.”
You can find all the results here.
