Press release from Desert International Horse Park, edited by World of Showjumping

Kent Farrington is back at Desert International Horse Park, and on January 22, he made one of his first stops at the Thermal, Calif. venue at the top of the podium in the $117,000 Pomponio CSI5* 1.50m Welcome.

Farrington and his winning mount Orafina (For Fashion x Canturo) were one of 12 entries to advance to jump-off in the Thursday afternoon class, and there, Farrington showed why he is currently the World No. 1. He left nothing to chance, cruising through the timers in 33.88 seconds to take over the top of the leaderboard.

“With [Orafina], if you’re going to bring her out here and put her in the class, then you’re going to put her in to win,” said Farrington. “After me was Karl [Cook] riding Caracole [de la Roque] – maybe the best horse in the world and certainly one of the fastest – so if I don’t make him work hard enough, I’m going to give him the class. So, we tried to make him work hard enough!”

Farrington did indeed make Cook and Caracole de la Roque (Zandor Z x Kannan GFE) work hard enough for a spot on the podium, with the pair ultimately crossing the finish in 34.84 seconds to take home second place. Rounding out the top three with a time of 36.02 seconds were Skylar Wireman and her own Tornado (Diarado x Chacco-Blue).  

“Orafina has been an incredible horse from the beginning,” said Farrington of the 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare that he has owned since 2020. “She’s ultra careful, very fast and a hyper-competitive horse. She’s been a winner since the day I brought her into the stable. I don’t use her for the biggest classes anymore, but for these classes, she’s a great contributor to the team and still a real winner today.”

In addition to Orafina, Farrington has brought another of his top mounts, Toulayna (Toulon x Parco), to California for the two weeks of CSI5* competition at DIHP’s Desert Circuit, including Desert Circuit 4’s $340,000 CSI5* Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ – Thermal.

“Rabbit Root Stables [based in California] has been an owner of Toulayna together with me since she was 8 years old, so I’m always happy to bring her out here on the West Coast so that they get to see her firsthand,” said Farrington. “[Coming here] is a change of pace, some place new, some new faces. I have some great people out here in Rabbit Root Stables that have supported my career, and I love to come out and see them and the other people on the West Coast.”

With 10 weeks of top-caliber competition, Desert Circuit at Desert International Horse Park continues through March 15, 2026.