Source:  HITS Thermal News Release

 

Desert Circuit IV in Review: Mark Watring Wins a Ton, Rich Fellers and Hope Glynn Top the Rider Rankings, Lauren Hester Moves Up in European Youngster Cup Series and Odor-No-More Pays Tribute to the Grooms

The good times continue to roll at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, California as the first week back after the short break brought beautiful weather, hundreds of new faces, and some great competition to kick-off the second half of the 2011 Desert Circuit. Highlighting the week were three Grand Prix, including Saturday night’s $50,000 Purina Mills CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, and the weekly $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix.

Not only did Puerto Rico's Mark Watring (Thousand Oaks, California) secure the top prize in Saturday night's FEI World Cup Qualifier, but thanks to his winning ride in the class aboard Horseworks Etc. Inc’s Green Sleeps Vioco and the fact that he uses Purina Mills’ feed, he also won a ton of free horse feed, courtesy of Purina Mills. Yes, that’s right a TON!!!

As HITS’ Official Feed, Purina Mills is sponsoring a great rider incentive program this season in conjunction with its four Grand Prix title sponsorships. In order to be eligible to win 2,000 pounds of free feed, riders need to show proof that they use Purina Mills feed. With a proof and a win, a ton of Purina Mills feed is awarded!

"I am very excited about our new Purina Rider Bonus," said Brant Gilbert, Purina Mills Marketing Manager. "Let's just say, we hope to be giving away a lot of feed this year!"

Watring wasn’t the only exhibitor at HITS Thermal to cash in last week. Following Saturday’s feature class, the Purina Mills After Party took the stage and Steve McAllister of Martin–McAllister Training won a free drawing that scored him a ton of feed from Purina Mills, as well.

In other Grand Prix action last week, Rich Fellers got the party started on Thursday night when he won the $31,000 Strongid C 2XWelcome Class, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Harry and Molly Chapman's Flexible. Fellers and Flexible have been the hottest pair at the 2011 HITS Desert Circuit, winning four Grand Prix events, including two of the three FEI World Cup Qualifiers that have been held, so far, this winter.

The Wilsonville, Oregon native appears to be on track for a return trip to the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals. In 2008, he won three of the four FEI World Cup Qualifiers at HITS Thermal and finished second in the Rolex FEI World Cup in Sweden. 

On Sunday, Team Germany's Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (Westlake Village, California) made her way to the winner’s circle for the first time at HITS Thermal when she rode Octavia Farms' Lancaster 144 to the blue ribbon in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. 

The win for Michaels-Beerbaum will be one that she will remember forever as it came on the day of her daughter Brianne’s first birthday. The decorated equestrian delivered the best birthday present of all when she posted the fastest double-clear round to take home the first-place check. “It will be a day I’ll never forget,” said Michaels-Beerbaum after the class.

Michaels-Beerbaum also said that if she qualifies she plans to attend the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix that will take place at HITS-on-the-Hudson, on Sunday, September 11. Currently, she has six of the eight Grand Prix classes needed to become eligible and sits 12th in the 2011 Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix Rider Rankings. Fellers leads the way with $48,600 in prize money won aboard Flexible as High-Performance Riders across the country look to earn a spot in this year's colossal Grand Prix.


© Flying Horse Photography.
Rich Fellers and Flexible capture the $31,000 Strongid C 2X Welcome Classic, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Thermal.

 
© Flying Horse Photography.
Mark Watring and Green Sleeps Vioco capture the $50,000 Purina Mills CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Thermal.


© Flying Horse Photography.
Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Octavia Farms' Lancaster 144 scored the blue in Sunday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Thermal.

Lauren Hester Charges Ahead in the European Youngster Cup 
HITS Thermal hosted the second of three Qualifying events for the European Youngster Cup Series during Sunday’s $10,000 Jr/A-O Jumper Classic High. Lauren Hester (San Diego, California) won the class aboard her own Abigail and earned the maximum 20 points towards qualifying for the prestigious Super Final which will be held in Leipzig, Germany during the FEI World Cup Finals in April. 

Audrey Coulter (San Francisco, California) also jumped clear aboard Copernicus Stables' Rodenburgh's California and secured 20 points in the race to earn a coveted spot on the United States EY-Cup Team. Riders gain points based on their performance, and get 10 points for each clear round and can earn a maximum of 20 points per qualifier with a double-clear effort. The top qualified rider from HITS Thermal will earn a chance to compete in the Super Final this April. 

The next opportunity to qualify for the EY-Cup will come on Sunday, March 13 in the $25,000 California Horsetrader Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic High.


© Flying Horse Photography.
Lauren Hester and Abigail on course in the $10,000 Jr/A-O Jumper Classic High, which served as DC IV's European Youngster Cup Qualifier. 


© Flying Horse Photography.
Tony Hitchcock presents Lauren Hester and Abigail the awards after their exciting win in Sunday's $10,000 Jr/A-O Jumper Classic High.

Hope Glynn wins her second $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal 
Hope Glynn (Petaluma, California) showed exactly why she leads the way in the preliminary Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final Rider Rankings, when she rode Sabrina Hellman's Woodstock to their second win of the circuit in Sunday’s $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix.

With the victory and four of the five classes needed to become eligible, Glynn seems to be on the right track to qualify for the all-newDiamond Mills $500,000 3'3" Hunter Prix Final which takes place the same weekend as the Pfizer Million in Saugerties, New York.

Also in the top five are John French (Woodside, California) aboard Sinclair, and Nick Haness (Coto de Caza, California) aboard Havana, who are tied for fifth place. Like Glynn, Haness has four classes under his belt and will become eligible after competing in one more Qualifying class. Meanwhile, French needs two more classes to become eligible for the largest hunter purse in the history of the sport.


© Flying Horse Photography.
Hope Glynn and Sabrina Hellman's Woodstock in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix at HITS Thermal.

Great Groom! 
This past week John Tisdale and Rueben Gondera, of Far West Farm, were presented the Odor-No-More Groom’s Award for the overall cleanliness and appearance of the barn. The area was inspected by members of the HITS staff, and for their win, the team from Far West Farm received an engraved trophy and a sample bag of Odor-No-More.

Odor-No-More Products are eco-friendly solutions which provide animal owners the ability to save time and money maintaining their animal’s enclosures. The products consist of a proprietary blend of micro-nutrient salts that are commonly found in animal feed supplements and hoof care products, to safely eliminate odors and wetness. For more information on Odor-No-More, please visitOdorNoMore.com.


© Flying Horse Photography
John Tisdale and Rueben Gondera, of Far West Farm, were the winners of the Odor-No-More Groom’s Award.


© Flying Horse Photography.
HITS Senior Vice President Tony Hitchcock awards The Exclusive Top Dog Award to Dundee, owned by Jeanne Porter.

For complete results from Desert Circuit IV please visit Hits.ShowJumping.TV/Thermal.

What's Next? 
Show jumping at the HITS Desert Circuit continues this week with Desert Circuit V. In addition to hosting the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby on Sunday, March 6, HITS Thermal will also feature three more Pfizer Million Qualifiers, including the $50,000 HITS CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Saturday night in the indoor arena. You can catch the all the action from the indoor ring by tuning into Show Jumping Unplugged’s webcast of the class beginning on Saturday night at 6:45pm on SJUTV.com.