Team PracKent Farrington (USA) came to Fort Worth like a man on a mission, and he accomplished what he set out to do by winning the 2026 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final. He brought two horses to help him achieve his goal: Greya and Toulayna. After riding Toulayna to the win in Thursday’s Competition I, Farrington partnered with Greya to win Saturday’s Competition II. On Sunday afternoon, he and Greya returned to Dickies Arena for two more rounds of jumping in Competition III, the final phase to determine the World Cup Final champions.
As the overall leaders, Farrington and Greya came back as the final combination to jump in Round A. They had an unlucky rail but held onto their overall lead. Heading into Round B, the top three were Farrington and Greya on four faults, Daniel Deusser (GER) and Otello de Guldenboom on seven faults and Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte on eight faults.
In Round B, there was little room for error and the World Cup Final title on the line. Guerdat and Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte had rails at fences 2 and 8 to drop them down to sixth place. Deusser and Otello de Guldenboom put the pressure on the leaders by laying down a clear round. Farrington and Greya had their work cut out for them because a rail like in Round A would’ve cost them the win. In front of a hushed crowd, they navigated Anderson Lima’s course with determination. They soared over the final fence to finish with a clear round and become the World Cup Final champions.
Kent Farrington Wins 2026 Title With Two Mighty Mares
“I was hoping to go in there with a rail in hand, and that didn’t happen. This guy (Daniel Deusser) made me work very hard today,” Farrington said in the press conference after his win. “I’m very confident in my horse, so I was hoping that she would perform like she did and she delivered. She’s really a superstar athlete.”
Farrington was quick to add praise of his other mount in Fort Worth, Toulayna. Their performance together on Thursday set the stage for the rest of the weekend.
“I couldn’t have done it without Toulayna on day one, who also won the first day,” he said. “I have two exceptional mares, and they’ve put me in the position that I am here to win the title.”
Despite being the overall leader heading into the final day and the close race at the top of the leaderboard, Farrington handled the immense pressure like any other horse show.
“I think from when I was a little kid, I’ve always put a lot of pressure on myself, and at a certain point, there’s no more pressure to put on yourself,” he said. “I just focus on my task at hand, be in the present, be one with my horse, think about what I have to do, and not worry about the end result. In that moment, I’m just in the present riding the course with my horse.”
Farrington has amassed several notable wins throughout his career thus far, but the World Cup Finals hold a special meaning for him. The event has been an inspiration to him since he was a child early in his riding career.
“I didn’t have access to high-level shows, but we had the videotapes of the World Cup Final, and I would get that every single year,” he said. “I would study all the riders and pretend that I could ride like them, watching them on the tape. I would watch it so much that I would burn through the tape on the cassette, so to be here winning it today is really, really special for me. And I’m very proud to have my name on the trophy.”
Daniel Deusser and Otello de Guldenboom Earn Reserve Champion Title
Deusser was happy to have finished with the reserve-champion title aboard Otello de Guldenboom. They had a great round on the first day of competition followed by a rail in next round of competition. On Sunday, Deusser and the 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion jumped two clear rounds to finish on seven faults.
“Today, I have to say he really tried his heart out,” Deusser said. “He really did his very best, and I’m very proud of him.”
He thought a strong finish in Fort Worth was possible given that Otello de Guldenboom tallied good results in the months leading up to the event. He said he had high expectations, so he made the trip overseas in hopes of a top result.
“I didn’t really think about winning because I know everything was very close together and we had very strong combinations here,” he said. “But you always dream a little bit, of course.”
Katie Dinan and Out of the Blue SCF Earn a Third-Place Finish
Katie Dinan (USA) had a stellar weekend with Out of the Blue SCF to climb the leaderboard and finish third on nine faults. She moved up from being tied for seventh before the start of Round A and tied for fourth before Round B. Dinan’s two clear rounds with the 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare on Sunday moved her up to third and made her the highest-placed woman in the field.
“I’m in awe of my horse Out of the Blue SCF,” Dinan said. “She was spectacular every day, jumping clear Thursday, Friday, and both rounds today. I owe everything to her.”
Dinan has been a regular competitor in the World Cup Finals over the year, with Fort Worth marking her seventh appearance.
“I think the World Cup Final is a really big deal, and it’s a championship every year, and it’s something that you can really aim for with the qualifiers and the qualification season,” Dinan said. “The qualifiers are some of our best competitions in the United States, so it works out well with the show calendar to prioritize the work of qualifiers and then hope to qualify for the final.”
Dinan said the World Cup Finals have been a target for her and her team over the years, and she gets guidance from a past champion, Swiss rider Beat Mändli who won in 2007 and serves as her personal coach.
“Like Kent, I was watching that on TV—maybe Kent was ready riding in the World Cup at that time,” she said. “But similar idea, I also grew up watching these championships on TV and thinking that’s where all the where all the big riders were. I jumped my second final was when Daniel Deuser won in 2014, so it’s really cool for me to be in the podium with these superstars.”
Hometown Hero Aaron Vale and Carissimo 25 Impress Local Crowd with Seventh-Place Finish
World #36 Aaron Vale, who originally hails from nearby Irving, Texas, and 2013 Holsteiner gelding Carissimo 25 delivered solid performances throughout the week, finishing in seventh place following the third day of show jumping competition on a time of 59.94.
“Carissimo was amazing this week. I made two small errors. I’ll put those on my shoulders,” Vale said. “We were going to have a good finish and just a couple jobs a little better by me and we may have had a great finish.”
In preparing “Ducky” for an event like the World Cup, Vale keeps the gelding’s training relatively simple. “We do a lot of gymnastics, and I suspected there might be a combination with a liverpool, so we practiced that at home,” he said. “But it’s really about keeping them fit and happy and just keeping their feet moving.”
For a big event like the World Cup™ Final, Vale said that it’s also essential to condition the horses to larger crowds and the distracting atmosphere. “At the big events, you want to expose your horse to more types of fences because there’s an endless library of jumps and turns and courses they have to face in different situations. So, this was a wonderful experience for Ducky and for me as a rider and competitor,” he said. “I’ll go home and live with the little mistakes I made until I get another opportunity to fix them. I think it stimulates the human brain, too, to have the desire and drive to focus and make it a little bit better in the future.”
Vale noted that Anderson de Moura Lima’s course designs for Sunday’s show jumping competition suited Ducky with several long approaches. “I really liked the courses. During the second round from fence one to two should have been a nice seven, but I got a little lost and did an eight, which was a mistake because he has such a big stride,” he said. “But instead of kicking myself about it, I need to do a better job of forgetting what I’ve done and just focus on the next thing.”
Competing in a World Cup™ Final in Fort Worth had special meaning the top show jumper, who grew up riding in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “It was really cool to have friends and family in the stands. When we first got here, we even drove by the house I grew up in,” Vale said. “Fort Worth has been a great host. I think they did a great job putting on the event here. With the jump design, they really embraced the local flavor here and did it in a beautiful way.”
Lillie Keenan and Kick On and Jacob Pope and Highway FBH Celebrate Clear Final Rounds
In her second time competing in a World Cup™ Final, the U.S.’s Lillie Keenan and 12-year-old-stallion Kick On celebrated a clear final round on 59.53 to finish in 10th place. After having rails down in the other three show jumping rounds, Keenan was happy she and “Ken” pulled it together for their final ride in Fort Worth.
“I’m frustrated about my earlier mistakes because otherwise we would have had a double clear today, but I was really happy with our last round. Obviously, we didn’t walk away as the winners here, but I learned a lot,” she said. “That’s the most important thing in our sport because you’re not going to win all the time. If you’re not learning something, then you’re losing, and I really feel that I learned more about my horse in the warm-up here. Our relationship has grown so much in the last two years, and he’s much more rideable and has so much ability and confidence.”
In preparing “Ken” for an intense competition like the World Cup™, Keenan’s main priority is incorporating variety into his training. “He has an abundance of ability, but he is a stallion and he knows he’s a stallion, so I have to walk a fine line of him believing he’s the alpha. I have to make sure he’s listening to me and not paying attention to everything else around him,” she explained. “The number-one thing we do in our training is a lot of variability. We never do the exact same thing two days in a row and do a lot of work outside the arena. That’s my philosophy with all my horses, but especially with stallions. They’re so emotional and have a lot of personality so it’s important to make sure he’s motivated and looking forward to his work.”
Keenan also notes that Ken’s relationship with his groom Anna Halasz is also incredibly important to his training and happiness. “He has to respect both of us. He knows that he’s incredibly loved, but we also can’t let him walk all over us, because he’s obviously much stronger. I think all these details make a huge difference with any horse, but especially with a stallion.”
Like Vale, Keean also has Texas roots. “My dad’s from Houston, so in a way this was like coming home for us. I really love it here and the crowd was amazing,” she said. “I’m a big fan of the rodeo and the Western culture. I even bought a Western belt at a vintage store here for the occasion.”
After several less-than-perfect rides, the U.S.’s Jacob Pope and 14-year-old Highway FBH had a stellar final round, finishing clear on 58.59 to land in 12th place in his first ever World Cup™ Final. Pope was thrilled to prove that he and “Highway” have what it takes to compete at this level.
“After jumping four rounds with such big, wide jumps, I think it gave us both a lot of confidence going forward for any show that we strive to do,” he said. “And I’m glad we can take that away from this experience and maybe go on to do some Nations Cups.”
In preparing Highway for an event of this magnitude, Pope notes that he actually doesn’t jump him much and instead focuses more on keeping the stallion fit and happy. “Leading up to this, I made sure to ride him every day. Sometimes we would school in the morning and then trail ride in the afternoon, just so that he’s always moving his muscles,” he explained. “And when we get closer to the competition, I almost back down with the amount of work he’s doing. After we qualified in Ocala, I focused on keeping him fit and the week before we came here, I made sure his rides were happy and I just tried to keep him loose because he was so fit by then.”
One of Pope’s favorite training exercises to test Highway’s adjustability involves a simple series of poles and cavalletti. “It might sound cliché, but setting up courses with poles and cavalletti incorporates all the same things we’re working on over the bigger fences—making sure my horse is ready any time we need to turn right or left or slow down or speed up,” he said. “It’s a great way to make sure your horse is right there in tune with you, without putting a lot of wear and tear on their joints.”
For More:
- View the final results here.
- To check out the event website, click here.
- To check results, click here.
- Watch the 2026 FEI World Cup™ Finals on demand on FEI.TV.
Read more about our coverage of the 2026 FEI World Cup Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, here.
Thanks to Zoetis for our coverage of the 2026 FEI World Cup Finals. It includes lead-up events, rider interviews, competition reports, photos and more!