OCALA, FL (February 27, 2012) – Rolling Acres Farm scored a huge victory on Sunday when professional rider Mary Lisa Leffler and Rolling Acres’ Gerona 92 captured the win in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at the Ocala Masters. A returning Diamond Mills Hunter Prix rider, Leffler is well on her way to qualifying for the 2012 Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final.
Forty-six horse-and-rider combinations prepared their Sunday best to compete over a first round course set by Ocala’s Doug Russell. After a first round score of 85 and a second round score of 84, Leffler, of Brookville, Maryland secured the win with a total of 169 points.
“This is one of the best classes offered each week in my opinion,” said Leffler, one of the most consistent and talented High-Performance riders to show in both hunters and jumpers. “It’s just a fun event for everyone – the riders, owners and the people that come and watch – everyone seems to enjoy it.”
THERMAL, CA (February 26, 2012) – Michelle Spadone seems to have some great chemistry with Alejandro Rodal’s Uitteraard. After just seven shows together, the pair won their first Grand Prix as a team in last night’s $53,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix CSI2*-W, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, before a sold-out crowd in the indoor arena at the HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, California. Just two weeks ago during Desert Circuit III, Spadone and Uitteraard finished ninth in the $53,000 HITS Grand Prix CSI2*W, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.
Canadian Course Designer Danny Foster set an exciting 1.60 meter course with lots of twists and turns. Riders faced an early combination (3a-b) at the third fence, a liverpool that caught some by surprise mid-way through the course and a triple (12a-b-c) on the last line towards the finish.
THERMAL, CA (February 24, 2012) – The second half of the 2012 HITS Desert Circuit is officially underway and exhibitors are flocking from all corners to Thermal, California. Entries have swelled to 2,700 stalls for the week and Thursday saw nine rings of competition buzzing all day long. Coming off an exciting win in Desert Circuit III’s $53,000 HITS Grand Prix CSI2*-W, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Duncan McFarlane and Simone Cox’s Mr. Whoopy picked up right where they left off when they posted the fastest double-clear round in Thursday’s $32,000 HITS Desert Classic (FEI), presented by Pfizer Animal Health.
With the current U.S. Chef d’Equipe George Morris watching from the sidelines, 25 starters took to the Strongid C 2X Grand Prix field in Thursday’s feature class. Canada’s Danny Foster, who is in town to set the courses for the week, came up with a challenging route that weeded out the competition to just five for the jump-off.
OCALA, FL (February 24, 2012) – Tracy Fenney banked her eighth Grand Prix of the qualifying season with a win in yesterday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard MTM Farm’s MTM Centano to become eligible for her third appearance in the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. No stranger to Pfizer Million glory, Fenney appeared in HITS-on-the-Hudson’s big ticket class in both 2010 and 2011 with two top twenty finishes to show for it.
Fenney, of Flower Mound, Texas leads the way in the 2012 Pfizer Million Rider Rankings with $43,500 in prize money and has her sights firmly set on September’s offering. She stole first place in the preliminary Rider Rankings from former Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood with two second place finishes in last week’s Grand Prix.
Yesterday’s win was Fenney’s third during the HITS Winter Circuit in Ocala and MTM Centano’s huge stride ate up Course Designer Ken Krome’s tracks. He presented technicality over size to both horse and rider with a water obstacle at fence number four as well as a double and triple combination in the second half of the course.
Jennifer Alfano rode Maggie May to the High Pre-Green Hunter Championship during HITS Ocala III Winter Festival. Photo: ESI Photography
Ocala, FL – February 22, 2012 – The success within the hunter rings continued this week for SBS Farms at the HITS III Ocala Winter Festival. Professional rider Jennifer Alfano guided numerous horses to the top honors this past week, including riding the young Maggie May to the High Pre-Green Hunter Championship.
Maggie May is a six-year-old Bradenberger mare owned by Billie Steffee, who Alfano showed to the championship tricolor in the High Pre-Green Hunter division. The young mare is always improving, and the pair took two blue ribbons over fences and the second place award for their efforts in the under saddle.
“She has been great; I am really excited about her this year. She keeps getting better and better every week, and she is really growing up a lot,” Alfano explained. “It’s really fun to be a part of her coming along, and being able to watch it all unfold.”
OCALA, FL (February 20, 2012) – Kate Conover and Redfield Farm’s Peron captured the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Sunday. Conover, a professional rider for Emil Spadone, finished in third place last September at the inaugural Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final. As one of the most talented riders in the sport today, Conover is once again on the path towards America’s richest hunter class.
Excitement was in the air as 61 entries navigated a first round course designed by Doug Russell of Ocala, Florida. The second round featured the 12 top professionals of the day, eager to secure the blue ribbon with the best overall two-round score.
Conover had the lead score in both rounds, posting a pair of 88 points for a 176 total and the win. Second place was awarded to Martien Van der Hoeven of The Woodlands, Texas aboard Augusta Pines’ Black Label and third place went to Claire Kellner of Lutz, Florida aboard Mary McNeel’s Gamaliel.
OCALA, FL (February 20, 2012) – Venezuelan rider Andres Rodriguez had an unbelievable week at HITS Ocala. On Thursday, he won the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, and came back three days later to take first again in Sunday’s $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Both wins came aboard Caballito, owned by ARAO Enterprises LLC. Rodriguez seems to have his sights locked on making it to this year’s Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix.
Rodriguez, now of Wellington, Florida, was one of 37 competitors to navigate the course designed by International Course Designer Martin Otto of Munster, Germany.
Reigning Pfizer Million champion Andre Thieme of Plau am See, Germany and his own Quonschbob were first to show and posted a beautiful round leaving all the fences intact. Unfortunately, they suffered one time fault to the crowd’s disappointment, which kept them from advancing to the jump-off.
OCALA, FL (February 17, 2012) – Andres Rodriguez and Caballito, owned by ARAO Enterprises LLC, won the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health on Thursday at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala to kick off a weekend of action-packed show jumping. High-Performance riders were out in full force yesterday as International Course Designer Martin Otto of Munster, Germany made his debut designing courses in the Grand Prix field at HITS Ocala.
Rodriguez, originally of Venezuela and now residing in Wellington, Florida, was one of 16 to make it to the jump-off from the original 39 horse-and-rider combinations.
“The course was friendly,” he said. “Everyone wants to see a jump off with people going as fast as they can and I’m glad there was a jump off that the crowd could get into, because that’s what makes this sport exciting”.
OCALA, FL (February 16, 2012) – Last week’s HITS Ocala Winter Classic was another exciting serving of show jumping competition at Post Time Farm as hunter and Grand Prix riders alike made big strides towards the 2012 HITS Championship Weekend.
Grand Prix action paves the way on the road to the Pfizer Million
Germany’s own Andre Thieme returned to HITS Ocala in style during week II, riding to victory aboard his own Cesar in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. The reigning Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix Champion is now well on his way to banking the necessary qualifying classes and is $7,500 closer to earning a spot on the Pfizer Million Rider Rankings to find himself at HITS-on-the-Hudson this fall.
OCALA, FL (February 14, 2012) – Not only did Daniel Geitner enter the hunter ring at HITS Ocala this weekend with the biggest horse, he left with the biggest prize. He and Robin Hughes’ Living Color took one giant stride towards September’s Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final with a win in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Post Time Farm.
Living Color – standing at 18 hands tall – carried Geitner to a high-score of 87 in the first round and duplicated that score in the second round for an overall score of 174. Aside from beating out 57 competitors on Sunday, Geitner also piloted Living Color to a High-Performance Hunter Championship this week at HITS Ocala.
“This course was really nice. Sometimes it’s hard for him [Living Color] to navigate the smaller rings, but he handled it well,” said Geitner, who hails from Aiken, South Carolina. “He is handy for a big horse, has a great temperament and Robin [Hughes] takes it slow with him, so he is ready for just about anything.”
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