Wellington, Florida, USA – March 12, 2022 – The penultimate day of the ninth week of competition at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) concluded with its highly-anticipated “Saturday Night Lights” event. A large crowd flocked in for the $406,000 Douglas Elliman Real Estate Grand Prix CSI5* on Saturday evening. The night finished with Abdel Saïd (BEL) repeating his victory from 2021, but this time with his own Arpege Du Ru. 

WEF 9, sponsored by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, hosts international five-star and two-star competition, sponsored by Corro, as well as hunter, jumper, and equitation divisions at the national level. The 13-week series features weekly shows through April 3, 2022.

The event featured 41 of the world’s best equestrian athletes spanning 13 different nations and a significant track by world-renowned course designer Alan Wade (IRL). Wade’s test for the first round included a triple bar and a triple combination early on in the course as well as an open water obstacle. 

Thursday’s $75,000 Adequan® WEF Challenge Cup Round IX CSI5* winners Kent Farrington (USA) and Orafina secured another memorable ribbon for the week as they put their name on the board for the runner-up honors. Farrington chased Saïd down to the wire with Kent Farrington (USA) LLC’s 10-year-old KWPN mare (For Fashion x Canturo) but stopped the clock still almost two seconds off of the top time to take the red ribbon on 40.42 seconds. 

“This is only [Orafina]’s second time jumping in a five-star class, and for that I thought it was a tremendous result,” stated Farrington. “It always feels better to win but I think Abdel had an incredible result, and that was going to be tough to beat on any horse.

“I like to take my time producing young horses that have a lot of talent, and I am very excited about her future,” he continued of the mare he has competed internationally for one year. “She proved a lot to me here in this class, and I am hoping for big things going forward. I think we all had tremendous athletes under us, and it is unique they all happened to be mares tonight. I have had a lot of success with great mares because they have heart and a ton of try.”

Final Results – $406,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix CSI 5*

1) Abdel Saïd (BEL) & Arpege Du Ru – 0 / 0 – 38.58

2) Kent Farrington (USA) & Orafina – 0 / 0 – 40.42

3) Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) & Katanga V/H Dingeshof – 0 / 0 –  41.65

Source: Press Release from ESP – Equestrian Sport Productions

Photos: © Sportfot

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