LAKE PLACID -- It took a horse who's on a roll and a little luck of the Irish for Darragh Kerins to win the I Love New York $75,000 Hermes Grand Prix Saturday.

The native of Sligo, Ireland, was among only four riders in a field of 35 to turn in a fault-free performance during the first round of show-jumping action at the horse show grounds in North Elba. Kerins and his mount, Night Train, a nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood, were the third to clear the 16-jump course with a time of 84.40 seconds, 2.6 seconds shy of the time allowed. Kent Farrington and his horse, Up Chiqui, winners of last week's $75,000 Budweiser Grand Prix of Lake Placid, were the first to clear the course at 83.15 seconds followed by Christine McCrea and Vegas at 85.19 seconds. Their performances guaranteed a tie-breaking jump-off later in the afternoon.

When three out of the first six horses cleared fault free, it seemed the course might not be as challenging as it has been in the past. But suddenly the competition changed gears when it looked like no one else was going to make it over without taking down a fence or faulting at a particularly troublesome water jump. As the 12th to take the field, Canadian Keean White and his mount Celina Z, were the fourth and last to make it into the jump-off, finishing with a fault-free run of 86.88 seconds.

Twenty-three more horse-and-rider combinations tried to take the course but none prevailed, including Olympians and past winners of grand prix in Lake Placid, Nona Garson and Margie Engle.

And just when it couldn't get any more exclusive, the first two of the four jump-off participants failed to clear the course, with Farrington being thrown from his mount and McCrea being penalized for Vegas' knocking down a fence and refusal to take another. That left the door open for Kerins and White to sail through. Kerins, third in the line-up, finished the abbreviated eight-jump course fault-free at a time of 46.27 seconds out of a time allowed of 50 seconds. White took down a rail at the fourth -- the same jump McCrea's horse balked at -- leaving him no chance of winning the top prize of $22,500.

"I knew I was lucky," said Kerins after his win. "I was lucky to go after Kent, and if he didn't have his mishap, I don't think anybody would have been able to catch him. In the jump-off, when there was no clear rider, I was talking to (Night Train's) owner, and we decided I should try to jump a clear ride and not take too many chances."

No one was more surprised than Kerins with his victory.

"Kent is one of the most consistent riders," he said. "I'm surprised it happened. It's been an amazing couple of weeks."

Saturday's win is Kerins' third grand prix victory in a month.

"(Night Train) is on a roll," he said. "He's only nine; he just keeps learning every time. Even if he doesn't jump a clear round the rest of this season, he doesn't owe anybody anything."

With last week's grand prix win and his fourth-place finish Saturday, Farrington didn't walk away empty-handed. As the rider with the highest combined purses from both grand prix, Farrington was awarded the Richard and Diana Feldman Perpetual Challenge Trophy for Excellence.

Kerins, whose wife, Sarah, competes today in the amateur ring, will compete in Canada and will return to Ireland to compete in the Dublin Horse Show in the next few weeks.

The I Love New York Horse Show finishes today with classes in all rings beginning at 8 a.m.