Lexington, KY - May 17, 2025 - In a jump-off field of six horses, only one was fast enough to be called the winner of the $30,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic Grand Prix, CSI 3*. Kent Farrington of Chicago, IL, and Up Chiqui, who is owned by Alex Boone, Richard Bass and James McNerney, sped to the win over Lauren Hough on Laura Mateo’s Quick Study and Molly Ashe Cawley on Vicomte D, owned by Jane F. Clark.
Today’s grand prix is the second of seven events in the Hagyard Challenge Series, a summer-long series of major jumper competitions. The Hagyard Challenge Series features $170,000 in prize money. In addition to incredible money in the Hagyard Challenge Series, sponsored by the Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, there will be a Leading Rider Award for $30,000. The Leading Rider Award is sponsored by Turftown Properties, Dean, Dorton & Ford, Fifth Third Bank, Fort Dodge, Hagyard Pharmacy and Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa.
Today’s class saw a record number of 53 entries over a course designed by Jose Gamarra of Bolivia. There were 13 numbered obstacles and the course included an open water, liverpool and a triple combination. Six were clear to move on to the shortened course. Gamarra also had a tight time allowed of 83 seconds which caught 27 with time faults. Three riders were clear with no jumping faults, but had one a time fault. Kevin Babington on Candaletto 4 finished in 85.99 seconds. Nona Garson and Languster stopped the timers in 84.91 seconds, while Robin Sweely and Qarco v’t Merlesnest just missed advancing with their time of 83.24 seconds.
The first return for the jump-off was Caitlyn Shiels and her horse Memphis. Shiels had trouble at fence 12 when Memphis refused. She circled and cleared it, but pulled up before the next fence. The two refusals led to elimination and sixth place.
Hough and Quick Study were the next to attempt the course. They made a great turn to fence 12 and kept completing precise slices across the jumps. They finished with a clear round in 40.08 seconds.
The next to go were Farrington and Up Chiqui. The ten-year-old gelding by Quidam made great turns and had a quick step throughout. They landed from the final fence and galloped through the timers with a clear round in 39.20 seconds to take the lead.
No others would be able to catch their time. Christine McCrea and Triomphe de Muze, who is owned by Candy Tribble, had a fast pace but slower turns. A rail into the two stride caused four faults, and they finished in 30.86 seconds.
Molly Ashe Cawley reserved Vicomte D and had slower turns in the jump-off. They finished clear, however, and moved into third place with a time of 42.08 seconds.
The last to challenge was Margie Engle on Hidden Creek’s Wapino. Engle picked up her trademark breakneck speed at the beginning of the course until a sharp slice brought a rail down at fence 14. Wapino had two more rails at 9b and the final jump to finish with 12 faults in 38.83 seconds for fifth place.
Hough has had Quick Study, the eight-year-old son of Quick Star, since last August. “I think he’s my future in this sport. This is the biggest test he’s done. He’s an amazing horse,” she beamed. “I’m really, really excited. I need to do the right thing because he’s got all the talent in the world.”
As this was Quick Study’s biggest class to date, Hough wanted to give her up-and-coming horse the best possible experience. “I didn’t think I was here to beat Up Chiqui today because that’s a super fast horse. I did all the right numbers. He jumped really high in the air, but I thought I was as smooth and as fast as I felt comfortable going today,” she acknowledged. “He will be a fast horse. He’s very clever, and he looks where he’s going. I couldn’t be more thrilled with second place today.”
Up Chiqui has been on a roll this year, having led the victory gallop at Littlewood, the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington and in Tampa. They also finished second at the $200,000 Grand Prix of Charlotte last month.
In last week’s grand prix, Farrington had a time fault and wanted to make up for it in today’s class. “He was a little rusty, and I was a little rusty,” Farrington said. “Today’s class had a very tight time allowed, so I think everybody had to think about it. He felt much better this week.”
Farrington had a plan for his horse and although he moved into the lead, he could not rest easy. “I didn’t see Lauren go, but they told me it was smooth,” he recalled. “That’s a very big-strided horse she’s on, sort of the opposite of mine, who’s a very fast mover. He’s naturally a really fast horse on his own. I was really worried about Margie coming in at the end, being really quick.”
With the victory under his belt, Farrington feels more confident for Sunday’s grand prix. “It’s always nice to come off of a win, but I was more pleased with how he jumped today than anything else. No matter where I placed, I was happy with the horse,” he smiled.
The Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show continues tomorrow with classes for the High Junior and High Amateur-Owner Jumpers in the Johnson Arena.
For full horse show results and more information, please visit http://www.kentuckyhorseshows.com/.
FINAL RESULTS: HAGYARD LEXINGTON CLASSIC CSI 3*
1. UP CHIQUI, KENT FARRINGTON, BOONE,BASS,MCNERNEY, 0, 0, 39.200
2. QUICK STUDY, LAUREN HOUGH, LAURA MATEO, 0, 0, 40.080
3. VICOMTE D, MOLLY ASHE-CAWLEY, JANE CLARK, 0, 0, 42.080
4. TRIOMPHE DE MUZE, CHRISTINE MCCREA, CANDY TRIBBLE & WINDSOR SHOW STABLES, 0, 4, 40.660
5. HIDDEN CREEK’S WAPINO, MARGIE ENGLE, HIDDEN CREEK FARM, 0, 12, 38.830
6. MEMPHIS, CAITLYN SHIELS, CAITLYN SHIELS, 0, elim.
7. QARCO V’T MERLENEST, ROBIN SWEELY, ACORN HILL FARM1, 83.240
8. LANGUSTER, NONA GARSON, NONA GARSON & RYAN AUTOMOTIVE, 1, 84.910
9. CANDALETTO 4, KEVIN BABINGTON, KINDLE HILL FARM, 1, 85.990
10. ILION KILEN, LJUBOV KOCHETOVA, F.S. LUBOV, 3, 94.680
11. NEMO, ROBERT KRAUT, MEGHAN MORAN, 4, 77.010
12. LANOO, ALI WOLFF, BLACKLICK BEND FARM, 4, 79.750
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