THERMAL, CA – 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.    

Riding her own Absie, Sarah Ballou of Grass Valley, California was the third rider to take to the field and the first to crack the code to Foster’s course. The next eight trips tried to follow Ballou’s lead; however, Foster’s track got the best of them with most of the trouble coming mid-way through the track starting with the 5abc triple and continuing through to the 10ab combination. New Zealand’s Guy Thomas and Peterbilt, LLC’s Peterbilt were smack in the middle of the order and used that position to their advantage. The pair navigated the course to perfection and ensured the crowd a jump-off.

Four trips later, 2003 PanAm Games Gold Medalist Mark Watring of Puerto Rico joined Ballou and Thomas in the jump-off with a clean ride aboard Horseworks etc., Inc.’sGreen Sleeps Vioco. John McConnell of Lemitar, New Mexico and Rancho Corazor’sKatie Riddle were the next to go clean and advance to the second round with just four more trips left to go.

Batting clean-up for the first round, McFarlane and Mr. Whoopy went clear to make it five for the jump-off.

"I have to say, this horse is really something special,” beamed McFarlane after the class. “I am really fortunate to have such an extraordinary ride. This year, our main goal is to get back to Saugerties for the Pfizer Million and bring another good ribbon home."

With the track shortened and the competition narrowed, Ballou and Absie had the first crack at the jump-off and followed their first-round performance with another flawless effort. They crossed the timers in 45.77 seconds to set the Great American Time to Beat. Thomas and Peterbilt looked to follow with a clean round of their own, but didn’t have the same luck, as they knocked down two rails on the course for eight jumping faults in a time of 43.47 seconds to finish fourth.

Watring and Green Sleeps Vioco have had quite a season so far in Thermal with four top finishes in their last five Grand Prix and more than $11,000 in prize money won. The duo raced through the course and came across the finish in 44.35 seconds to take the lead.

McConnell and Katie Riddle went next and were unfortunately not able to repeat their success from the first round. They finished the class in fifth place after they earned 16 jumping and seven time faults on Foster’s jump-off route.

McFarlane and Mr. Whoopy once again used their “clean-up” position in the order to their advantage and lit up the arena as they blazed through the course in 43.51 seconds, just fractions of a second faster than Watring, for the win.

After the class Foster was quick to offer his thoughts. "I was really impressed with the entire class, and especially the winning pair. I understand it’s their second win of the circuit. They seem to be well on their way back to the Pfizer Million and they will certainly be a force to be reckoned with."

For McFarlane, he’s determined to continue this streak for the rest of the circuit. “We are so happy to be here at Thermal for the entire circuit. Our customers really love it here. I am looking forward to three more great weeks and, hopefully, earning lots more prize money with the $200,000 [Lamborghini] class right around the corner in two weeks."

With the win, McFarlane now has four of the eight Grand Prix needed to become eligible for this year’s Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix and an impressive $35,230 in prize money won with Mr. Whoopy, which will help them inch closer to the top of the current Rider Rankings as they head into the weekend.

Friday’s schedule includes 11 rings of competition, with nearly 100 different classes and an astounding 1,793 trips planned. “The atmosphere is electric here in Thermal,” said Brian Morris, HITS Technical Coordinator. “We had a great first half and the second half is shaping up to be phenomenal. We’ll be up another 10% next week and it’s nice to see West Coast show jumping thriving like this. There’s a lot of excitement for what we’re doing here and customers are happy, so that makes for a great atmosphere and some great competition.”

All eyes are now on Saturday night’s $53,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix CSI2*-W and Sunday’s $30,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, both presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Saturday night’s class will take place in the indoor arena, while for Sunday’s main event riders will head back outside.

©Flying Horse Photography.
Duncan McFarlane and Mr. Whoopy glide high over the Purina Mills jump in Thursday's $32,000 HITS Desert Classic (FEI), presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, California.

©Flying Horse Photography.
Owner Simone Cox joins Tony Hitchcock of HITS to present the awards to Duncan McFarlane and Mr. Whoopy for their exciting double-clear victory in Thursday's $32,000 HITS Desert Classic (FEI), presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Gifts to the owner included a SmartPak gift bag and a bottle of wine courtesy of Sonoma Cutrer, HITS' Official Wine Sponsor.