Wellington, FL – March 15, 2007 – In a 17 horse jump-off, it was Kent Farrington (USA) and Up Chiqui who finally caught Laura Kraut (USA) and Miss Independent for first place in the $25,000 Chesapeake Benefit Cup for a Just World/WEF Challenge Cup Round 8 at the CN Worldwide Wellington Finale, CSI-5*.

As the second to last horse in the class, Farrington knew his rangy chestnut, Up Chiqui, had the ability for victory today. Up Chiqui is owned by Alex Boone, Richard Bass and James McNerny. He was extremely quick from the first to second fence, but Up Chiqui tripped and made a huge effort to clear fence 17. “He slipped really bad one stride away. That horse has such a big heart; he’ll never give up,” Farrington said. “He fought his way out of it. That was pretty ugly. I was a little worried, but he took good care of me.”

Farrington kept an efficient pace and when he landed from the one stride, he pushed Up Chiqui to the last oxer while the crowd whistled. When he looked up, he saw a time of 33.61 seconds, which put him into the lead by 2/10ths of a second. “I thought it would be pretty close,” Farrington recalled. He’s really fast by himself. In the last line, I knew he could do the nine [strides] if he jumped out of the combination well. He jumped out pretty strong, so I took a shot at it and let him do it.”

RESULT WEF CHALLENGE CUP ROUND VIII

1 UP CHIQUI - KENT FARRINGTON (USA) 0 0 33.610
2 MISS INDEPENDENT - LAURA KRAUT (USA)
0 0 33.820
3 HICKSTEAD - ERIC LAMAZE (CAN) 0 0 34.120
4 REDEFIN - IAN MILLAR (CAN) 0 0 35.220
4 MUSTIQUE - YANN CANDELE (CAN) 0 0 35.220
6 COMPLETE - CIAN O'CONNOR (IRE) 0 0 35.780

foto : Up Chiqui & Kent Farrington