KENT
FARRINGTON
Jumping at the chance
Never in his lifetime will Kent
Farrington (USA) forget July 21st,
2019. He had waited so long for this
day. Many times he had been very
close. Many times he had fallen just
short of his goal. This time he was
destined to succeed. Riding his top
mare, Gazelle, he won the Rolex
Grand Prix of the CHIO Aachen. “I
have been riding out of that ring for
years, looking at the winner’s wall and
imagining my name on there. I am so
happy to come out with a win finally,”
he admitted during the prize-giving
ceremony.
It wasn’t just purely a Major win for
him. It was also the reward that Kent
Farrington had battled for, finally
making it back to the top of the
ladder again – and to the ranks of the
Rolex Grand Slam.
A serious riding accident in February
2018, resulted in a complicated
fracture of the leg that put him out
of action for several months and
stopped him from participating in
The Dutch Masters and the following
Majors. This was a particularly tough
stroke of misfortune, since he had
kicked off 2018 as the title contender
after his victory in the Rolex Grand
Prix at the CHI Geneva in 2017. It
meant the pursuit of the Rolex Grand
Slam was over for him before it had
actually really begun.
One and a half years later, thanks to
his victory in Aachen, Kent Farrington
has been given a second chance. “I
will try my best to win another Major,”
he promised before setting off for
the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’
in September 2019. Although both
he and Gazelle put in outstanding
performances in Canada, knocking a
rail in the Grand Prix prevented the
pair from claiming a further Major
victory. Luck wasn’t on their side at
the CHI Geneva last December either.
They didn’t make it into the jump-off
of the Rolex Grand Prix.
However, Kent Farrington does
have one more iron in the fire. At
The Dutch Masters, he still has the
chance of picking up a Grand Slam
bonus. If he wins the Rolex Grand Prix
in ’s-Hertogenbosch he will secure
himself an additional prize bonus
of 250,000 Euros for two Major
victories within one Rolex Grand Slam
cycle.