Kent Farrington Takes Hampton Classic Grand Prix, Again

Kent Farrington defended his Hampton Classic Horse Show Grand Prix title from last year with another win on Sunday.

Riding Zafira, Farrington pulled off a time of 38.51 seconds in the jump-off of the $250,000 FTI Consulting Grand Prix, beating out Richie Moloney on Slieveanorra, who rode in 40 seconds even, and Georgina Bloomberg on Juvina, who had a time of 44.03 seconds.

Moloney, who rides out of Riverhead, was coming off two days of good showing. He won the $40,000 Longines Cup on Saturday, riding Carrabis Z, and rode Slieveanorra to second place in Friday's $50,000 Spy Coast Farm Grand Prix Qualifier.

Farrington, who is 32 and based in Wellington, Fla., was set to ride Voyeur in Sunday's Grand Prix, but according to the Hampton Classic, Voyeur came up with a swollen ankle that morning. He rode Voyeur in the qualifying event on Friday.

"I thought that maybe my odds weren't as good with her as with Voyeur, but I thought she could do it," Farrington said of Zafira, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood, in a statement released through the Classic. "This was a big step up for her, and she answered the question."

Farrington joins the ranks of McLain Ward, Margie Engle, Michael Matz and Rodney Jenkins as the fifth rider to win the Hampton Classic grand prix in consecutive years, according to the horse show.

Bloomberg, the daughter of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, placed third in Sunday's Grand Prix. "Third place had special meaning for Bloomberg, 30, for several reasons. First, she said that the Hampton Classic is to be her final show of the year, since she's pregnant and expecting to give birth late this year," the horse show said in a statement.