2011 USEF Junior Hunter National Championships – East Coast Returns to HITS-on-the-Hudson

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©Lili Weik Photography. Taylor Ann Adams is congratulated after winning the 2009 Essex Classics/USHJA Hunterdon Cup at HITS Saugerties.

Wildcard Berths for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final to Be Awarded to Champion Riders from Each of the Four Junior Hunter Sections

SAUGERTIES, NY (January 28, 2011) — HITS, Inc. is pleased to announce that the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has selected HITS-on-the-Hudson to be the host site for the 2011 Junior Hunter National Championships – East Coast, marking the return of the event to HITS facility for the sixth time in the past seven years.

The 2011 USEF Junior Hunter Championships – East Coast will be held August 1-3, between HITS-on-the-Hudson V and VI, at the HITS-on-the-Hudson show grounds in Saugerties, New York. The Championships will feature competition for all four sections of Junior Hunters: Small Juniors 15 and Under, Large Juniors 15 and Under, Small Juniors 16-17 and Large Juniors 16-17. Also held during this competition is the popular and prestigious Hunterdon Cup, which offers an exciting equitation championship for junior riders. Equitation classes will kick things off with the USEF/Pessoa Hunter Seat Medal, the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Medal, and the WIHS Equitation Classic taking place the first day of competition.

Perhaps the most exciting element of the bid put forth by HITS was the offer to provide wildcard berths for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final to the Champion rider of each of the four junior hunter sections, creating an unprecedented opportunity for riders to participate in the world’s richest hunter class.

“I, along with the rest of the Junior Hunter Task Force, am very pleased that the Junior Hunter National Championships will be returning to HITS-on-the-Hudson,” said Don Stewart, trainer and Chair of the USHJA Junior Hunter Task Force. “It’s a fantastic venue and we are looking forward to this event being bigger and better this year. In particular, we are especially excited about the opportunity to have each of our four Champions compete in the $500,000 Hunter Prix Final that will take place in September at HITS Saugerties.”

HITS President and CEO, Tom Struzzieri echoed Stewart’s sentiments. “The Junior Hunter National Championships have been a cornerstone of the HITS-on-the-Hudson Summer Series and we are pleased to welcome them back to Saugerties. We felt strongly that Champions from this year’s event would be deserving recipients of a spot in the Hunter Prix Final and we hope this will help to contribute some additional excitement and attention to the Junior Hunter Finals.”

The 2011 HITS-on-the-Hudson Spring, Summer and Fall Show Series will feature eight weeks of AA-rated competition. The show season will kick-off in Saugerties with the three-week Spring Series from May 25 through June 12. The three-week Summer Series runs July 20 through August 7, with the 2011 USEF Junior Hunter National Championships – East Coast taking place August 1 through 3. The schedule for the Junior Hunter National Championships will begin on Monday, August 1 with all three Equitation classes. The Junior Hunters will compete on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Hunterdon Cup highlighting competition on Tuesday, August 2. All competition will be held in the majestic Strongid C 2X Grand Prix Stadium.

Without a doubt, the highlight of the Saugerties Show Series will be the converging of the first-ever Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final and the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix, two monumental show-jumping events which will take place the weekend of September 10-11 to cap off the final two weeks of show jumping at HITS-on-the-Hudson, which begin on September 1.

The 2011 HITS-on-the-Hudson Spring and Summer Prize List is currently in production and is expected to mail in early March. For more information on HITS Saugerties, or to request a prize list please visit: www.HitsShows.com.

HITS, Inc. produces high-quality, international-level hunter/jumper horse shows. Based in upstate New York in the Village of Saugerties, HITS has been producing shows since 1982 and is now a nationwide company with world-class circuits in California, Florida, Arizona, New York and Virginia. In 2010, HITS took the industry to new heights when it hosted the first-ever Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix on September 12, in Saugerties, New York. HITS will once again offer the most innovative weekend in show jumping history in 2011 when it hosts the second annual Pfizer Million and the inaugural Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final, September 10-11, at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York.

For more information and a complete schedule of classes and events, visit www.HitsShows.com. Media should contact the HITS Media Team at 845.246.8833 or e-mail Media_Info@HitsShows.com.

HITS, Inc. • 319 Main Street • Saugerties, NY 12477-1330
845.246.8833 Tel • 845.246.6371 Fax • www.HitsShows.com

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