Keenan Comes Full Circle with Kick On in World Cup Victory at 2026 WIHS

October 24, 2026 – Upper Marlboro, MD

With an electrifying jump-off ride, Lillie Keenan (USA) rode Kick On, owned by Chansonette Farm LLC, to win the $340,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup ™ Washington CSI5*-W on Saturday, October 24, 2026. Keenan added another accolade to her record at the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), presented by MARS Equestrian™, which started 23 years ago for her on small ponies. The grand prix was the highlight event of the week at WIHS, which is held at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. Earlier in the day, JJ Torano (USA) rode I Am Inge, owned by Ilan Ferder, to win the $50,000 Ambassador’s Cup Grand Prix CSI2*. Emi Richard and Diaceur triumphed through three rounds to win the WIHS Equitation Final. WIHS concludes on Sunday, October 25.

Riders representing eight countries took to the ring over a track by course designer Colm Quinn (IRL), and 13 were clear to advance to the jump-off.

“It wasn’t planned to have that many clears, but I think the credit has to go to the top riders that we have here, and the excellent horses,” acknowledged Quinn. “I think the conditions are fantastic here.”

Keenan noted, “I actually walked the course and did not expect there to be so many clear. I think that building for these Longines qualifiers is quite a challenging task, and not one that I would want. Although the numbers may not be huge, our percentage of very good combinations is quite high – as it should be – at a World Cup qualifier.”

The pathfinder in the class and the jump-off was U.S. Olympic team gold medalist McLain Ward and Jordan Molga M, owned by Michael Smith. Their clear-round time of 38.44 seconds held for three trips until Daniel Coyle (IRL) and Farrel entered the ring. With breathtaking turns, Coyle lowered the winning time to 37.13 seconds with his longtime partner. He would finish in second place for the second year in a row, while Ward slotted into fourth.

“My plan didn’t go according to plan at all,” admitted Coyle. “Already from the third to fourth jump, I tried to leave in seven strides and didn’t make it, same as Lillie, but also to the last fence. Farrel was very, very handy and very, very fast. I was still quite fast, but I knew I left the door open a little bit.”

Two trips later, Keenan and Kick On made the victory theirs. They stayed stride for stride on Coyle’s time, until a push down the last line where they left out a stride that gave them the winning time of 37.13 seconds.

“To be honest, in both rounds I didn’t actually ride my plan,” agreed Keenan. “In the first round, I planned after the triple combination to do five strides, which pretty much the whole class did, and I ended up on six strides. It was a bit of a rider error, and I got away with it. Then in the jump-off, there were quite a few places I planned to do fewer strides, and it just didn’t quite come up the way that I thought it might. I didn’t think I was going to be fast enough.”

Coyle finished second in this grand prix in 2025 with Incredible, and to have another top result with Farrel is something he doesn’t take for granted. Farrel made a return to top sport after a cyst in his stifle almost ended his life. Surgery not only helped Farrel survive but allowed him to come back to jumping.

“He loves this sport more than people do; you can’t usually say that of a horse, but I can say it about him with everything this horse has done,” expressed Coyle about the 16-year-old KWPN gelding by Cardento x Stakkato owned by Ariel Grange. “I just thought if I could get him back to do 1.45m speed classes, it would be a miracle, but to have him back at the top of the sport is unreal. I’m really, really, really, really lucky to have him.”

With a quick trip after Keenan, Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam slotted into third place with a time of 38.09 seconds on Pia Maria H, owned by Sweetnam and Seabrook LLC.

“Even though she’s 11, she’s a green 11, and she didn’t have the kind of mileage that she’s gotten this summer,” said Sweetnam of the BWP mare by Kasanova de la Pomme x Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve. “In her development, she’s gotten better and better all year, and she’s jumped in places like Aachen and Dublin. This is probably the first time doing indoors ever in her life, and third in the World Cup is pretty good. I think we’re really making good steps for her, and I’m looking forward to the future.”

Keenan found Kick On, whose barn name is “Ken,” three years ago, and they started at the two-star level. Keenan struggled with the stallion and his big personality; she had to learn to harness that to use it as an advantage.

“He does not like a lot of force. I think that’s why he works so well for me as a woman,” she explained about the 12-year-old BE/SIES stallion by Warrior x Caretino Glory. “I think that one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from Ken is that every interaction you have with a horse affects your relationship, and it carries over to the ring. I know that my biggest strength is not strength, so I try to really rely on the relationship that I can build with my horses. Day to day there’s a lot of discipline and knowing a boundary, but then when he goes to the show, it’s about having fun and shining.”

Keenan was thrilled to be able to add her name to the President’s Cup trophy after a long career of victories at WIHS. She is the third rider to win both the WIHS Equitation Final and the grand prix at WIHS following her trainer, McLain Ward, and U.S. Olympic team silver medalist and world number two Kent Farrington.

“I’ve been coming to Washington since I was seven or eight years old on a pony,” she related. “I was champion in the pony divisions here, I was champion in the junior hunters, and I won the equitation final here when I was 13. I rode in the open jumpers when I was 16 or 17.

“Now I’m 30, so I’ve been here for a long time,” she laughed. “It’s really incredible to be able to jump in front of my home crowd for the President’s Cup, which is a class I’ve watched since the first time that I came here on a small pony. My mom always wanted me to see the best riders in the world, so it’s pretty awesome to now be one of them.”

WIHS President Vicki Lowell stated after the class, “We’re always so happy to have some of the best riders in the world come here to Washington and support this World Cup qualifier event. It’s a community event that we put on for all the kids and fans, because it is such a great sport. All of the riders really put on an incredible show tonight, and I think we added a few more show jumping fans this evening.”