Source:  News Release
SAUGERTIES, NY (July 24, 2010)--Olympian Margie Engle had a fantastic day in Saugerties, New York after she finished first and second in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, to mark the return of Grand Prix show jumping at HITS Saugerties.

In Friday’s feature class, Engle, of West Palm Beach, Florida, was first aboard Indigo, owned by Gladewinds Farm Inc., and second aboard Hidden Creek’s Pamina L, owned by Hidden Creek Farm.

Engle and Indigo were one of 33 horse-and-rider teams to take the field on a course designed by International Course Designer Florencio Hernandez of Mexico City, Mexico, which saw an outstanding 16 clear efforts return for a jump-off.

It was an exciting day in the Strongid® C 2X Stadium as high-performance riders looked to continue earning Grand Prix classes and prize money to qualify for the Pfizer Million.

The first three rounds of the class failed to produce a clean effort until Tracy Fenney, the winner of last Sunday's $40,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Culpeper, took the early lead with a clean ride aboard MTM Timon, owned by MTM Farm.

Fenney and her husband Mike McCormick, who also showed in the class, are from Flower Mound, Texas and this is their first trip to HITS Saugerties. Fenney is currently number three in the Pfizer Million Eligible Rankings and came to Saugerties to test the waters for the big class in September. "We are really enjoying the place," said Fenney. "The set up is really nice, the rings are beautiful and all the people we’ve met are really nice. We’ve been really impressed with the caliber of the horses and the level of competition. The Grand Prix ring is nice and big, and the footing held up fabulously in the rain. It wasn’t an easy course and the fact that there were 16 in the jump-off speaks to the level of the horse and riders, and the quality of the footing."

At the end of the first round, McLain Ward, of Brewster, New York, and his own Oh' D Eole; Addison Phillips, of New York, New York, and her own Teirra; Kent Farrington, of Chicago, Illinois, and Valhalla, owned by Haity McNerney; Katie Dinan, of New York, New York, and Amoroso, owned by Grant Road Partners; Amy Momrow, of Loudonville, New York, and Re Louis, owned by Jackie Piraquive; Megan Edrick, of Ocala, Florida, and Cadence, owned by Procedures, Inc.; Margie Engle aboard both Indigo and Hidden Creek's Pamina L, owned by Hidden Creek Farm; Laura Chapot, of Neshanic Station, New Jersey and Tsarin, owned by Mary & Laura Chapot; Andrew Bourns, of Wellington, Florida, and his own Gowran Park; and Ward again aboard Esplanade 7 and Vocas, both owned by Louisburg Farm, all joined Fenney in the jump-off.

The first two rounds in the jump-off were unable to set the pace with double-clear efforts until eventual winners Engle and Indigo went third, setting the Great American Time to Beat at 40.072 seconds in a fault-free ride that would go untouched.



"I’m very happy with the way both horses went today," said Engel. "I just got Indigo in late March and he’s coming along really nice. He seems to be getting better and better as time goes on. He’s always been a good jumper and goes clean, we just needed to figure out the fast part and today we seemed to do that!"

With 13 rounds remaining, Engle was able to secure the second place honors as well aboard Hidden Creek's Pamina L with another clean round in a quick 40.305 seconds.

"I actually thought that Pamina was going to catch Indigo’s time, but she got a little confused on the last line to the triple bar and got a little careful on those two verticals," added Engle.

Fellow Olympian, McLain Ward piloted three of his four mounts to the jump-off and came the closest on two them to beating Engle's time with Esplanade 7 and Oh' D Eole, who he finished in third and fourth place with times of 40.378 and 41.727 seconds, respectively.

Rounding out the top five in the class was Farrington on Vahalla who gave it their all in the jump-off with a clean round in 42.132 seconds, which was just off the pace of Ward’s fourth-place finish.

"The ring held up fantastic with the rain we had," said Engle. "The footing felt very good and I didn’t notice any horses slipping. In fact, the ground feels almost better when it gets wet. Lots of horses were going fast and I didn’t see anyone slipping. I think that’s why we had so many clean rounds. I thought the course was tough enough and the fact that we had 16 in the jump-off really speaks to how good the footing is in that ring."

Engle now has seven of the eight needed Grand Prix's in order to qualify for the Pfizer Million. With plans to show again in Sunday’s $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, and both of next week’s Grand Prix classes at HITS Saugerties, Engle is sure to break into the Pfizer Million Eligible Rider Rankings well in the Top 20 as she currently has $21,500 in prize money won on her leading horse Hidden Creek's Pamina L.

“I think what HITS is doing with the Pfizer Million is a great thing for our sport. I believe this will bring more attention to show jumping in our country and it’s been really nice to have a goal like this to shoot for. I’m looking forward to this class,” added Engle.

$10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome