Kent Farrington & Up Chiqui Repeat Win at $30k International Opener
January 15, 2026
Green Cove Springs, FL –Greenwich, Connecticut’s pride Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui, owned by Farrington, kicked off the second week of the 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series with a repeat victory in the $30,000 Green Cove Springs Welcome CSI sponsored by Canadian National Railroad. This evening’s class was a preview of things to come at Saturday’s premiere event, the $100,000 Green Cove Springs CSI3* Grand Prix, a qualifying stop on the road towards the World Cup Finals in Geneva, Switzerland this year.
Dave Ballard of Ontario, Canada returned for his fifth year as course designer for the FEI events. His resume includes being one of the few O Class designers in the world. The course for tonight was a technical one round speed layout of 13 obstacles at regulation 1.45M (maximum height 4’9”) with a time allowance of 83 seconds. The tracks were a little long with several tight turns. One of the three double combinations [6AB-oxer to vertical] became the deal breaker which cost many a rider their shot at a paycheck. Riders coming off the #5 liverpool found there was minimal space to attempt an inside turn as the #3 oxer loomed close enough to prevent a square approach to the oxer at #6. While the wise ones elected to safely go around the #3, Farrington and Up Chiqui went for the improbable. “I just know him really well and this type of class is his specialty.” tonight’s winner said of the tight squeeze play, then added with a smile, “His bravery is why we can do that inside turn.”
Crowd favorites Farrington and Up Chiqui are no strangers to winning, particularly in this arena as they were victorious in last season’s CSI preview event. “He’s just a spectacular horse! He’s won an abnormal amount of classes, he’s ridiculously fast but very careful.” an exuberant Farrington said of the 13 year-old Belgian bred gelding. Up Chiqui looked anything but ridiculous when 27 world-class athletes went to post and the fastest among them was the USA representative Farrington and his speedster with a clear time of 64.270, nearly 20 seconds below the allowed 83. Asked if he’s got any big goals this season Farrington said, “Up Chiqui is a great Grand Prix horse, but not necessarily a Championship level one, that’s just a notch over his head so we’ll be going at his pace-level, but I do have some other horses that I’m stepping up and hoping that if I make one of the tours on one of them, then maybe he’ll come with me as one of the backups. He’ll go tomorrow night and we’ll see what the future holds.”
Completing the top five positions for tonight’s $30,000 event were in second place Goldika 559 ridden by McLain Ward for owner Blue Chip Bloodstock with a clear round time of 65.250. Third place went to Beth Underhill with Top Gun for owner Iron Horse Farm in a clean 68.030 seconds. The fourth position went to Charlie Jayne on board Sampras for owner Alex Jayne with a clear time of 69.100 and in the fifth spot was Richard Spooner aboard Mademoiselle for owner C & S Partnership, LLC in a clear time of 69.560. President of the North Florida Hunter Jumper Association, Tony Weight said of the evening “We’re very excited about the caliber of horses this event attracts. The riders are the best in the world…in and out of the saddle. Tomorrow evening is going to be thrilling to watch.”
The Jacksonville Winter Series continues through February 7th with classes Wednesday through Sunday beginning at 8AM until about 5PM except for special events on Saturday evenings at 7PM such as tomorrow’s big $100,000 Green Cove Springs CSI3* Grand Prix featuring Olympic and International superstars of the Show Jumping world. Admission to the shows is free – parking at special weekend events is a $5 donation, which goes to support local charities.
For more information or results on the 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series please visit www.classiccompany.com or call the show office at 904.284.1579.
Flashpoint Media Services, based in Harrodsburg, KY, is a comprehensive public relations firm specializing in the equestrian sports. For additional information contact Robbi Meisel, 859-734 3713, [email protected]
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