Lexington, KY - May 20, 2025 - It was an interesting afternoon at the Kentucky Spring Classic Horse Show. The $50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, CSI 3* had a jump-off between seven riders, none of which were clear in the first round. After the class failed to have a clear trip, the riders with four faults returned for a jump-off. The fastest of the group was Kent Farrington of Chicago, IL, on Up Chiqui, who is owned by Alex Boone, Richard Bass and James McNerney. They beat out Federico Sztyrle and Fatalis Fatum for victory. Margie Engle and her veteran partner, Hidden Creek’s Perin, finished third.
Today’s course, designed by Jose Gamarra, was a track that no horse was able to master. It featured lines with striding options and a stiff triple combination at the end that caused a number of rails. The open water was another problem spot on the course. Farrington remarked, “I walked it, and I thought it was pretty big for what I expected for a $50,000 class, and with a triple like that coming at the end. Earlier on, there was an awkward line to a double that was either a very direct four strides or a wide five. I opted for the five since my horse is kind of small.” Sztyrle added, “When I walked the course, I thought it was tough. The jumps were big enough. The course had a lot of options.”
Eliza Shuford on BCO Olymp and Meghan Moran with Graf Lando just missed the jump-off when they had four faults plus one time fault.
The first to return in the tie breaker was Hidden Creek’s Perin and Margie Engle. In the first round, they only had a toe on the tape at the water jump, but they jumped the fences clear. In the jump-off, they had a solid pace and normal turns throughout. They added a clear round to the total and finished in a time of 40.85 seconds.
Next up was Farrington with Up Chiqui. Their faults from the first round came at the “b” element of the triple combination. “To the triple, I added and did a really steady six strides. It was a reaching one stride to a really reaching one stride,” he explained. “I knew it was going to be difficult for him. I think maybe in the first round I could have ridden it a little bit better. When I jumped ‘a’, I needed to really kick him at ‘b’. I probably just didn’t get there enough, and he had it down.”
In the jump-off, they made a quick rollback from the first vertical back to the second oxer. Farrington opted to not do an inside turn option to the second to last oxer. “I thought that would be really, really awkward. My horse goes very fast all by himself, so I thought it would be better to keep the speed and go around. I thought it would be smoother.” Smooth it was, as Up Chiqui sprinted through the remainder of the course and stopped the timers in a blazing time of 36.99 seconds.
Katie Prudent and Zoie LLC’s Sassicaia also had trouble in the triple combination in the first round, taking a rail down at the final element. They began their jump-off with a swift pace, but after a slip in the turn back to fence 5, Prudent eased up slightly. They had four faults at fence 5b of the two-stride, and Prudent tried to make up time by taking the inside turn to the second to last oxer on course. They finished with four faults in a time of 41.78 seconds.
Canada’s Tonya Henning made a good bid with her horse Mill Creek Sparky by urging the long-strided horse to leave a stride out in the first line of the jump-off. Her horse was not quite fast enough to win with a clear round in 41.23 seconds. In the first round, it was fence 12a that prevented a clear round.
In their first trip, Carlos Boy and Ken Berkley were denied a score of zero jumping faults at fence 12c, the second to last jump on course. In the second round, it would be the final vertical that would be the bane of a clear second round. Berkley piloted the large grey stallion, owned by Krista and Alexa Weisman, and left out a stride in the first line and made the inside turn to fence 12c. It was not enough when they caught the final rail for four faults in 38.37 seconds.
As the fastest four-faulter in the first round, Federico Sztyrle of Argentina and his mount, Fatalis Fatum, had a good chance to catch Farrington. Their original faults came at fence 10, an oxer set on an off-stride after the open water. Of his first round faults, he explained, “My horse is a little bit funny to the water, and he did that part really well. I knew I had to ride the water fast, so I think I had the next oxer because he was coming in fast. He never had time to back up.”
They made a fantastic turn back to fence 4 and kept a neat, easy pace. They finished a second and a half off the winning time with a clear round in 38.55 seconds. Sztyrle did not see Farrington go in the jump-off. “I only saw Margie, and I asked Kent what his track was,” he acknowledged. “My horse is slower than his. He turned really well today, but he’s a bit slower. Kent is a very fast rider. I knew I was going to have a hard time beating him.”
Fatalis Fatum is a 12-year-old Hannoverian gelding by For Pleasure. “He used to be a stallion, but we gelded him two years ago,” Sztyrle revealed. “I’ve had him for almost four and a half years now. I started late with him because he was hard to ride, and I think he’s finally settling down. He jumps really easy, it’s just the rideability. He doesn’t like to shorten the canter, but he’s getting there. I’m very pleased with him today.”
The final horse in the ring was Tarco, ridden by Candice King and owned by Joan Kalman. The big bay had no trouble with clearing the fences in the first round but had faults at the water. In the jump-off they would not be clear. When the rail fell at fence 5b and they stopped the timers in 42.71 seconds, Farrington’s second grand prix win of the week was sealed.
“Lucky for me, there were no clears,” Farrington said with a smile. “I thought there might be a possibility for me in a jump-off. I was thinking after the first round that he went pretty fast, and I was hoping to be the fastest four-faulter and maybe be in the top five.”
This was Up Chiqui’s second grand prix win this week. Farrington is very happy to have such a strong mount. “He’s been amazing. He’s been on a roll, and it’s really been fantastic for me to have a horse to get in there and go do it. He keeps trying. I think he’s great.”
Results of Class 233 - $50,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix
T/A: 83.00 T/A: 47.00
1. UP CHIQUI KENT FARRINGTON USA 4.00/0.00/36.99
ALEX BOONE RICHARD BASS JAMES MCNERNEY
2. FATALIS FATUM FEDERICO SZTYRLE ARG 4.00/0.00/38.55
CHRISTIAN WOLFFER
3. HIDDEN CREEK’S PERIN MARGIE ENGLE USA 4.00/0.00/40.85
HIDDEN CREEK FARM
4. MILL CREEK SPARKY TONYA HENNING CAN 4.00/0.00/41.23
MILL CREEK STABLES
5.CARLOS-BOY KEN BERKLEY USA 4.00/4.00/38.37
KRISTA WEISMAN & ALEXA WEISMAN
6. SASSICAIA KATIE PRUDENT FRA 4.00 /4.00/41.78
ZOIE LLC
7. TARCO CANDICE KING USA 4.00/4.00/42.71
JOAN KALMAN
T8. B.C.O. OLYMP ELIZA SHUFORD USA 5.00/84.78
ELIZA SHUFORD
T8. GRAF LANDO MEGHAN MORAN USA 5.00/84.78
MEGHAN MORAN
10. CANDALETTO 4 KEVIN BABINGTON IRL 8.00/76.94
KINDLE HILL FARM
11. MARLO JIMMY TORANO USA 8.00/79.38
JIMMY TORANO AND SIR RULY
12. SUN GOD PABLO BARRIOS VEN 8.00/80.29
CHERYL KRISE AND SPLIT CREEK
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