Kent Farrington and Madison Race to Victory in the $100,000 President's Cup at the Washington International Horse Show

Washington, D.C. - October 29, 2005 - Kent Farrington of Greenwich, Connecticut and Madison, owned by Alexa Weeks, stormed to victory in the $100,000 President's Cup, sponsored by Salamander Hospitality, LLC at the Washington International Horse Show on Saturday night at the MCI Center.

Twenty-five equestrian superstars and their equine partners went to the post in the highlight event of the 2005 Washington International Horse Show, the nation's premier indoor equestrian showcase. Steve Stephens of Palmetto, Florida, designed this year's President's Cup course and scoring was under FEI Table A, Art. 238.1.2., Time First Jump-Off and Art. 655.2 FEI World Cup Qualifier rules.

Eight competitors qualified for the jump-off, mastering the first round challenge set by Stephens. Seven horse and rider combinations had four faults, while another five had eight faults. Four competitors had more than eight.

Great Britain's Nick Skelton and Arko III were the first to return for the tiebreaker. Skelton tried to set a high standard and almost got the job done until Arko III pulled the plank at 10b coming home. The duo would finish up with four faults, clocking in at 32.34 seconds, a pace that would have eventually been good for second place had the rail not come down.

Todd Minikus and Harry R Gill's Flier produced the first clear round in the speed phase, tripping the timers in 34.06 seconds to take the early lead. Dutch rider Harrie Smolders, a double winner on Friday, went clear with Exquisoliver Q, owned by Alex Verlooy of the Netherlands. Smolders came home in a time of 36.56 seconds.

Kent Farrington and Madison, riding out of the fourth spot in the jump-off order, put the pedal to the metal at fence one and never let up up on the gas until they had crossed the finish line in a blazing 32.22 seconds, a time that would hold up for the win.

Following Farrington, Michael Whitaker of Great Britain, with Mozart Des Hayettes pulled the plank at 10b and registered a time of 34.12 seconds. Chris Kappler on M and K Oranta's VDL Oranta had a rail at fence 5 and finished in 35.72 seconds and Leslie Howard with Youp, owned by the S'Blieft Group, had eight faults in 33.49 seconds.

Laura Kraut and Anthem, owned by the Summit Syndicate, gave Farrington his biggest scare. The veteran partnership, despite a stumble after the first jump-off fence, raced home clear in 32.44 seconds, just .22 seconds shy of Farrington's top time.

Farrington, who has had a fabulous season, with five major grand prix wins, talked about tonight's victory. "This is a really exciting win for me, competing against all of these great riders. Todd and Laura I've watched forever and that's helped me a lot. And having Nick Skelton and Michael Whitaker here, those are two of my heroes from when I was a kid," he said. "So for me, it was just an honor to ride in the class. To win it is something very, very special."

Kraut explained that she lost a couple of vital ticks on the clock at the beginning of her jump-off ride. "I definitely failed from one to two in the jump-off. He landed after one and I don't know if he stumbled, but he certainly took a funny step," she said. "I tried to make something out of it but I couldn't, so I ended up having to add one more stride. I didn't see Kent go, but I know how fast he is and I heard his time announced and it sounded very difficult to beat."

Farrington wasn't sure the misstep would be enough to keep Anthem from the winner's circle. "I know how fast Anthem is. He's an illusion really," Farrington said. "He can do one more step than a normal horse and still be faster, so I wasn't comfortable until I saw Laura's time come up on the scoreboard."

Third place finisher Minikus talked about the class and offered up some advice. "I thought it was a very fun class. I thought it had the right number for the jump-off and it was exciting for the crowd. It was kind of a who's who of fast, fast and fastest," said Minikus. "I think the bottom line might come down to old timers like Laura and me getting kinda long in the tooth and junior here not understanding you can get hurt," Minikus laughed. "He says he learned a lot from us, well that's gonna be the next lesson. Junior, slow down, you're gonna hurt yourself."

All of the riders had great things to say about this year's edition of the Washington International Horse Show.

"It's a fantastic show," Kraut said. "We have Sheila Johnson to thank. She really stuck her neck out here. And Hugh Kincannon has done a great job organizing it because it's a logistical nightmare getting the horses in and out of the city and they do the best job imaginable. The show is fantastic, they've really got it nailed down now.

"I'll be quite frank. I think the first year or two this show was questionable whether it would go on," said Minikus, "but I think this year and last year it seems to have a nice spark to it. It seems like it's got some new life. I think it's catching on with the city and that's great. Washington's always been a wonderful horse show."

"It's great that they were able to attract some of the top Europeans top come here and show. Even though we spanked them in the President's Cup and they'll be licking their wounds all the way to Syracuse," Minikus added with a laugh.

For Farrington, his greatest season in a very young career just keeps getting better and better. "I think it's about the horses you have to ride. And right now I really have nice horses and I have great clients that are very supportive. Without that you can't have any kind of success because it's all about the horses."

Results of $100-000 President's Cup CSI-W Art 238.2.2 655.2-2005 Washington International Horse Show-October 25-30- 2005

2-71-Laura Kraut -USA-ANTHEM- 0.00/32.44

3-82-Todd Minikus -USA-FLIER- 0.00/34.06

4-711-Harry Smolders -NED-EXQUIS OLIVER Q- 0.00/36.56

5-713-Nick Skelton -GBR-ARKO III- 4.00/32.34

6-716-Michael Whitaker -GBR-MOZART DES HAYETTES- 4.00/34.12

7-549-Chris Kappler -USA-VDL ORANTA- 4.00/35.72

8-484-Leslie Howard -USA-YOUP- 8.00/33.49

9-708-Gerco Schroder -NED-EUROCOMMERCE MILANO- 4.00- 64.33

10-382-Molly Ashe -USA-NEUVILLE- 4.00- 65.71

11-718-McLain Ward -USA-GOLDIKA 559- 4.00- 65.73

12-417-Margie Engle -USA-HC'S PERIN- 4.00- 66.40