HITS Thermal: The 2013 HITS Desert Circuit Starts With a Bang

Source: News Release

The 2013 HITS Desert Circuit Starts With a Bang

THERMAL, CA (January 24, 2013) — No fade-ins here, as the 2013 HITS Desert Circuit gets underway it’s cut to the action with the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Friday that will give exhibitors their first shot at qualifying for the AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach. That highly anticipated event will take place March 17 as the climactic finale to the HITS Desert Circuit.

Also coming up this week is the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, one of six grand prix classes with prize money of $50,000 or more. Three others are $54,500 FEI World Cup qualifiers weeks II, III and IV.

Professional, amateur and junior hunter/jumper riders gather in Southern California to prove their mettle, earn serious prize money and have fun in the sun over seven weeks of top-notch competition at one of the most beautiful horse show facilities in the world.

The big news of the circuit is the debut of a seven-figure grand prix in California. Even beginners will enjoy watching international riders vie for a slot—and ultimately a prize—in this special event. Over the course of the seven-week Desert Circuit, there will be 15 opportunities to qualify for the inaugural AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach. Riders aspiring to a slice of the million-dollar prize were given a head start with the opportunity to compete in select grand prix at participating fall horse shows to earn prize money in the rider standings list. However, the requirement of competing four grand prix of $25,000 or more during four separate weeks of HITS Desert Circuit shows I-VI is mandatory for any rider to be considered eligible.

“I’m really excited about the AIG $1 Million this year! It puts the Thermal circuit on the map as far as prize money is concerned. It would be a nice check to take home,” said world champion show jumper Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum. Michaels-Beerbaum traveled from Germany with husband and business partner Markus Beerbaum to compete in Thermal alongside their students, California girls Lucy Davis and Saer Coulter. In addition to the AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Lamborghini Newport Beach, all four are going for World Cup points.

Reigning Rolex FEI World Cup champions Rich Fellers and Flexible arrive this weekend in California, where they will be competing from both World Cup qualifying points and a spot in the AIG Thermal Million. France’s Eric Navet will join an international contingent that also includes Brazil’s Eduardo Menendez, Columbia’s John Perez and Enrique Gonzalez of Mexico, along with Canadians Olympians Jill Henselwood and John Pearce.

The hunters will also get a shot at high stakes competition, with the $50,000 East vs. West Hunter Challenge, a class that lets the top 12 hunter riders at Thermal go head-to-head with the top 12 at the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit in Florida. The two-round contest will stream live to jumbotrons on each coast, with judging at both venues on Saturday, March 16

Among the many changes at the 2013 Desert Circuit, the big hunter prix now take place on Sundays and a $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix punctuates DC III. All Devoucoux Hunter Prix during HITS Thermal will serve as qualifiers for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final during HITS Championship Weekend in Saugerties, New York in September. A $5,000 HITS Hunter Prix at 3’ also caps DC III, and will lead the many opportunities for junior and amateur riders to qualify for the HITS $250,000 Hunter Prix Final, also to take place during HITS Championship Weekend. Many of the hunter prix will take place on the new Outside Course—an elevated galloping track that runs the north side of the newly-integrated Hunter rings 3 and 4.

“I was so excited to try out the new Outside Course!,” said Shelley Campf of Oz, Inc., who said it was her first stop on settling in to the show grounds. “I was curious to see how it rode, and am really looking forward to seeing what the course designers do with it.” Back for 2013, the much anticipated Pony Hunter Prix, sponsored by Hunterbrook Farms, will take place on this exciting new terrain. “It’s exciting to have top international riders compete here for a million dollars, but the pony riders are the future of our sport,” said HITS president and CEO Tom Struzzieri, adding, with a wink, “We have to fill the AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix of 2025.”

Another magnificent grounds upgrade is the wall of glass added to the Oasis VIP Club, as well as the West Coast debut of a new culinary superstar, Chef Giuseppe Napoli of the Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern in Saugerties, New York. For his delicious, fresh and contemporary American cuisine, Napoli draws inspiration from all over the world and makes it uniquely his own, creating a menu that is sure to be a draw for this elegantly appointed club.

There is something to enjoy for everyone at all corners of the HITS Desert Horse Park this winter. Even casual show attendees can enjoy Chef Napoli’s meals with his new VIP Food to Go Program offering salads and light dishes from his kitchen to your barn, tack room or RV, available beginning at 5 p.m., Wednesdays through Thursdays at the HITS Bar (across from the main hunter and grand prix rings).

New classes for beginner amateur riders this year – including an adult long-stirrup and a cross rail class - will allow newcomers to the sport to taste the thrill of competition. Struzzieri put it in perspective, “It speaks to the eclectic nature of the events we produce, that we have the biggest grand prix on the West Coast and have also added classes for people attending their first horse show.”

HITS Staff
Upon arrival, many horses and riders were seen hacking around the show grounds.