CULPEPER, VA (March 7, 2012) – As the countdown to HITS Championship Weekend is well underway, East Coast riders will look to HITS Culpeper for pivotal qualifying opportunities. Weekly $40,000 Grand Prix will give High-performance riders the chance to punch their ticket for the third annual Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. In addition, HITS Culpeper will host five $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix, all of which will qualify for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final and five $1,500 HITS Hunter Prix as qualifiers for the all-new $250,000 HITS 3’ Hunter Prix Final. All three big-ticket classes will meet at HITS Championship Weekend at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York September 7-9, 2012 to crown their champions.
The HITS Culpeper Show Series will get underway when the Commonwealth National kicks of hunter/jumper competition April 18-22. Riders return on July 6, with two consecutive weeks of competition during the Showday National, July 4-8, followed by the Cavalier Classic, July 11-15. August brings two more weeks of competition with the Winston National, August 15-19, and the Constitution Classic, August 22-26. HITS will close out the 2012 season Virginia during the Culpeper Finals September 26-30 while introducing the first qualifying opportunities for the 2013 Pfizer Million.
In 2012, HITS Culpeper will continue a longstanding tradition of offering a full schedule of divisions and classes that cater to all levels of hunter/jumper competition. The $1,000 Pony Hunter Classic, $1000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Hunter Classic, $500 Bit O’Straw Hunter Classic, $15,000 Brook Ledge Open Jumper and the $5,000 Low and $10,000 High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classics return to the schedule each week as Culpeper favorites. They will be joined by the $500 Marshall & Sterling/WIHS/NAL Children’s and Adult Hunter Classics, the $2,000 Marshall & Sterling/NAL Children’s and Adult Jumper Classics and the Culpeper Equitation Classics.
In addition to the many Grand Prix and Hunter qualifiers for HITS Championship Weekend, Equitation riders will earn their moment in the spotlight with weekly Marshal & Sterling Junior Medal qualifiers. This year, the Marshall & Sterling Junior Medal Final will become part of the coveted weekend and join the National Professional Horsemen’s Association’s (PHA) Medal in an indoor arena at HITS-on-the-Hudson.
The USHJA Tad Coffin Zone III Junior Equitation Finals return to Culpeper for the sixth consecutive year Saturday, August 18 during the Winston National. The Tad Coffin Finals is open to junior riders in Zone III who have won any USEF, ASPCA or WIHS Medal, or any Zone III State Medal between August 15, 2011 and August 12, 2012. The class is held as one class, but with two height sections (3’ and 3’6”) and takes the stage in the Grand Prix Ring.
Significant upgrades to the Culpeper property were made over the winter and HITS Management is eager to welcome riders back to the popular Commonwealth Park. The 2012 HITS Winter Circuits will soon wrap up in Florida, Arizona and California and HITS, Inc. is pleased to host equestrians from all over the country at the 2012 HITS Culpeper Show Series in the heart of Virginia’s horse country.
2012 HITS Culpeper Show Dates:
Commonwealth National: April 18-22
Showday National: July 4-8
Cavalier Classic: July 11-15
Winston National: August 15-19
Constitution Classic: August 22-26
Culpeper Finals: September 26-30
The 2012 HITS Culpeper Prize List has been mailed and the on-line version can be found on the Culpeper page of the HITS Website. To request a prize list, please visit HitsShows.com.
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