A Day at the Races: The Hampton Classic Grand Prix

By Katlean de Monchy and Linda Lee-–

It was no surprse that the riders ranked first in the world (Kent Farrington, Great Britain) and ninth (McLain Ward) would take the prizes at  Sunday’s Hampton Classic Grand Prix. They were the only ones who finished the first round without knocking down a rail over Nick Granat’s tricky 17 jumps. (Granat may be known to locals, having started working with Marty deLeyer as a kid.)

Mclain Ward riding Lestro VD Valkenberg in the Grand Prix (photo credit: Kindmedia)

That meant there would be a jump off, with eight jumps. Whoever made it through fastest, without a fault, would win first prize in the $400,000 competition. (Money is always apportioned, typically with a quarter going to the first place finisher, down to 6 or 7 percent to those finishing fifth or sixth.)  Age and experience were key for both riders and horses. The prime show jumping age for horses is said to be 10 to 12 years. Farrington’s horse, Greya, is 12, a superbly athletic Oldenber mare. Ward’s horse, Lestro VD Valckenborg, is a 10 year old Dutch Warmblood gelding. Ward began riding Lestro only late last year, and is bringing him along slowly.

Ward, 50, and Farrington, 45, are both old hands at this Grand Prix. Ward has won it seven times. Farrington has won it three times. They know each other’s strenghts and weaknesses.

McLain Ward riding Greya (photo credit: KindMedia)

Since the jump off meant the riders had to be fast but careful they had to chose between speed and accuracy. Farrington knew he could turn Greya on a dime, and so had the advantage. Ward decided to be more cautious with his horse, and came in second. The difference was a mere 1.04 seconds, to complete eight jumps including a double in 42 seconds. For anyone thinking this is not an example of strength, skill, communication and courage, that’s  making one jump every five seconds.

The third place finisher, who had four faults in the first round, was the German rider Christian Kukuk, who ranks 10th in the world. The surprise was the fourth place finisher. We spotted her last year, the extraordinary Skylar Wireman.

Skylar Wireman with one of her two jumpers, Tornado and Barclino B. She rode Barclino B in the Grand Prix. (Photo credit: Lindsey Long, lindseylong.com)

We included Skylar in our big story about successful female riders a year ago. Wireman is based in California, and owns her horses with Shayne Wireman, her mother, who is also her trainer. Their stable, Chestnut Hills, is 50 miles from San Diego. Skylar Wireman’s talent brought hwe within a half-a-second of the third-place finisher in the Grand Prix. Why is that remarkable?

She is 21 years old.

A 16-minute documentary about Skylar Wireman, a young California equestrian, was made in 2025 by Naomi Sedgwick, a former competitive show jumper.

She wears the pinque coat because she earned it by representing the US in the Pan American games. A 16-minute documentary about her, “Jumpers,” was shown at the Bridgehampton Museum during Hampton Classic week. She is ranked 76 in the world. That is sure to change.

So much for the horses. The Hampton Classic has become as much a social and lifestyle event as it is a world-class equestrian competition. The VIP tents are filled with corporate sponsors, luxury brands, real estate companies, banks, competitors and their guests—all using the Classic to entertain clients, build relationships and, naturally, be seen.

Kelly Klein, left, and Gabby Karan Felice were recruited by Hamptons Cottages and Gardens along with their editor, Clinton Smith, to judge 68 tables decorated (to a greater or lesser degree) with flowers and table settings. Some went the extra mile. (Photo credit: Katlean de Monchy)

The tables have become a show within the show. Flowers, linens, china, glassware, color and themes turn lunch into a production. The team judging the tables was made up of Kelly Klein, a style icon. photographer and author of “Pools”; Gabby Karan de Felice, who is married to and in business with the restaurateur Gianpaolo de Felice, and the editor in chief of Hamptons Cottages and Gardens, Clinton Smith.

They agreed on the following: First prize went to Compass, the large Hamptons real estate company that had an ebullient center decoration of frothy white flowers, white poppies, dark orvhids, kiwi fruit and green grapes. Each place setting was set with a charger, a plate, and a white napkin anchored with a black orchid.

The Compass table setting. Orchids galore seem designed to please high net worth individuals. (Photo credit: Barbara Lassen/Barbara Lynne Photography, 631.513.9930)

Quince, an online company, was second.  Wölffer Estate Stables took third place with a riot of color, fruit and light-hearted tableware.

The Wölffer Estate Stables sponsored a table that said, simply, “Let’s have fun!” (Photo credit: Barbara Lassen/Barbara Lynne Photography, 631.513.9930)

For the second year in a row the XO Lignelli table was awarded the prize for Most Innovative. Catherine Lignelli is a horsewoman, and so are her daughters Alexa and Agatha. In fact Alexa, who graduated from Pierson High School in Sag Harbor, won her third 1.40m Grand Prix in a row this year at the Classic.

Catherine Lignelli’s table was voted most innovative for the second year in a row. Let others use flowes. Her designer used grass, woven into braids. (Photo credit: Katlean de Monchy)

Perhaps because they spend so much time around horses, hay and gresses, Catherine came up with the idea for this year’s table. She told me she selected grasses from farms around the East End and used them for the seats and centerpiece. The display was a combination of all of the native grasses in the Hamptons. A professional braided them into sheaves that spilled over the end of the table, and curved around a pyramid of champagne coups.

Lignellli’s winning table display (Photo credit: Barbara Lassen/Barbara Lynne Photography, 631.513.9930)

Hats at the Classic seem to get more complicated every year—bigger, fussier, more feathers, more flowers, more everything. Millinery has become its own form of competitive dressing.

Diane Taylor went in another direction, wearing a turban that looked chic, modern and wonderfully unfussy.

Jean Shafiroff embraced the full Classic fantasy in Oscar de la Renta with a matching Kokin hat.

There were billionaires, but to the untrained eye they would have been hard to pick out. Mike Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York, was one of the few who turned up before 1 pm, when mere mortals were in the VIP tents. His daughter, Georgina, would have a brilliant showing in the Grand Prix, coming in 16th in a highly comptitive field.

The super swells, corporate bigwigs and their guests, would turn up closer to the start time of the Grand Prix, at 3 pm.

Katlean de Monchy wearing a Zimmerman hat with a Vivianne Tam dress, seen with former mayor Michael Bloomberg.

In the glamorous tent, the one with table decorations and corporate sponsors, Katlean spotted Kenneth and Maria Fishel, Jean Shafiroff, Ann Liguori from WFAN and Dennis Suskind, the board president of the Hampton Classic, who is retiring this year. (His parting gift: a Land Rover.)

Ann Liguori and Dennis Suskind, who is retiring from his post at the Hampton Classic (Photo credit: Katlean de Monchy)

Also on hand, Dr. Stephen T. Greenberg, the plastic surgeon who has clients among men and women here. Julia McCormack, the president of the Southampton Hospital Foundation, and a scrum of young people at the Alice and Olivia table, who seemed puzzled about what they were supposed to be doing.

Julia McCormack, President of the Southampton Hospital Foundation, and the philanthropist Jean Shafiroff wearing Oscar de la Renta and a Kokin hat. (Photo credit: Katlean de Monchy)

The Compass table, Wölffer Estate Stables, various private equity firms and real estate companies, banks and law firms and big corporations in the horse world buy tables to entertain clients. Tables sear eight to ten, and cost $30,000 for a week-long, ring-side rental. Most of them will be used only for the qualifiers on Thursday and Fridau and for the Grand Prix.

Ken and Maria Fishel, who are thought of as “horsey” without owning horses. The reason: Their property is used for the big polo matches that matk the beginning of horse season. (Photo credit Katlean de Monchy)

There is another side to the tents, one that makes this side of the VIP tents look like a clown show. The really rich don’t want fussy table decor and certainly don’t want bankers and real estate people bothering them.

They have serious wealth, own stables and may have teams of riders. They might have  sons and daughters, or husbands and wives, who compete at the highest levels. They are most likely an international group. They see each other in Riyadh at the end of the Global show jumping tour, and keep horses stabled in Eindhoven, convenient to the  important European shows.

Nayel Nassar came in second in two five star qualifiers leading up to the Grand Prix, riding Evergates horses

Bill Gates’s daughter, Jenn Gates Nassar, is a pediatrician in New York City and an accomplished equestrian. She is also married to the internationally ranked show jumping star Nayel Nassar, who did well at the Hampton Classic riding two different horses. Their Evergates Stables has its anchor and breeding facility is in Achen, Germany, where it hosts a team of four riders and fourteen competition horses.

There are horses worth watching, riders worth following, tables worth photographing and even hats worth discussing. But let’s remember the years of work, dedication and money it takes for people to build the stables, train the horses, establish something like the Hampton Classic, now in its 51st year. And the training, the riding,  the joy and disappointment of riders trying to make it to this level on the show jumping circuitl

The Grand Prix is over in one day. These elite riders will brush off their clothes, see to their horses, check their schedules, and be in another competition in a day or two. The horses may be loaded onto a specially equipped jet with their grooms to fly to Europe, Canada or California. It’s not beyond conception that one or two who rode here this year will run out of money, or time, or energy and quit riding professionally before the next Hampton Classic.

There is always someone new coming up. And we will be there to see them.