• Skip to main content

Vermont Summer Festival

Six Weeks of Top Equestrian Competition in Vermont's Green Mountains

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone
  • News
  • Champions
  • Results

Kent Farrington Flies Fastest At Vermont Summer Festival

Aug 17, 2008 For Immediate Release, MEDIA CONTACT: Jump Media LLC for Jump Media LLC, Tel: 518-586-6258.

Press Release Photo, See Caption

"Kent Farrington flew to victory aboard Up Chiqui in the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix at the Vermont Summer Festival, August 17, 2008."  Photo credit – David Mullinix Photography.   Photograph may be used one time only in relation to the above news item.  For high resolution photograph, please email Jennifer Ward at Starting Gate Communications.

East Dorset, Vermont — Kent Farrington of Wellington, FL, brought out the big guns for the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix at the Vermont Summer Festival. Riding Up Chiqui, he won the finale class of the six-week series that took place from July 9 through August 17 at the Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, VT.

Twenty-four riders took to Pierre Jolicoeur’s course and eight of them figured out the first round. The jump-off ultimately came down to the tightest turns.

“I thought the first round was very friendly and just the right amount of riders went clear and we had a nice jump-off,” said Farrington. He noted that the jump-off also rode as expected, but the key to winning was turning hard and keeping Up Chiqui balanced.

“You just have to let him do his thing,” Farrington said of the 10-year-old powerhouse gelding who measures in just under 16 hands. “I just have to keep him from going too fast and going crazy. He’s built like Sea Biscuit.” They finished clear in 34.95 seconds.

Up Chiqui is owned by Alex Boone, WM Dobbs and Farrington, and has been celebrated numerous times in the grand prix winner’s circle including the 2007 Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championships, and has finished in the top of multiple international competitions.

Bill Lowry of North Scituate, RI, rode last in the jump-off and came closest to Farrington and Up Chiqui finishing clear in 36.05 seconds. Lisa Rex and Fit 3, the pair who won week two’s $30,000 Battenkill Grand Prix and week five’s $10,000 TSE Cashmere/Furla Open Welcome Stake, presented by the Manchester Design Outlets, finished in third with a clear jump-off in 36.10 seconds.

This was Farrington’s third year at the Vermont Summer Festival. “It’s a great place to bring up young horses and young riders who are stepping up to the grand prix level,” he said. “I like that it’s laid back here, which is much different than a lot of the other big circuits.”

Up Chiqui is scheduled to show next at the Hampton Classic in Southampton, NY, followed by the Spruce Meadows Masters in Alberta, Canada.

The 2008 Vermont Summer Festival, held for its 15th year at Harold Beebe Farm in East Dorset, offered a total of $750,000 in prize money throughout the six weeks of competition, making it the richest sporting event in the state.  In 2009, the Vermont Summer Festival will again offer six weeks of competition from July 1 to August 9.  Visit the Vermont Summer Festival website for more information, including full results.

$50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix

  Rider
Hometown
Horse
Faults Time
1 Kent Farrington Wellington, FL Up Chiqui 0:0 34.95
2 Bill Lowry North Scituate, RI Rioi Corde 0:0 36.05
3 Lisa Rex Westbury, NY Fit 3 0:0 36.10
4 Hillary Dobbs Sussex, NJ Marlo 0:0 37.05
5 Cortie Wetherill Wellington, FL Equinox 0:0 37.67
6 Danielle Torano Ft. Lauderdale, FL Ormsby Hill 0:0 40.21
7 Bill Lowry North Scituate, RI Polygraaf 0:4 37.07
8 Timothy Hooker Wellington, FL Sirius 127 0:4 38.00
9 Kevin Babington Ireland Caracas 49 1 86.16
10 Danielle Torano Ft. Lauderdale, FL Vancouver D’Auvray 1 86.83
11 Hillary Dobbs Sussex, NJ Marengo 4 78.93
12 Holly Orlando West Palm Beach, FL Great Pleasure 4 81.59
« Prev
Next »
  • News
  • Champions
  • Results

©2003-2020 Vermont Summer Festival Horseshows  •  All rights reserved  •  Email  •  Home

Website by MadRiverWeb.com