SAUGERTIES, NY (July 27, 2012) – Just five days after an exciting win in last week’s $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Laura Chapot found herself holding another blue ribbon thanks to an impressive victory in today’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Hea lth, at HITS-on-the-Hudson. Despite dark clouds overhead, the sun broke through to create a beautiful mid-summer backdrop to a stellar afternoon of show jumping in upstate New York. With crowds lining all four berms of the Strongid® C 2X Stadium, Chapot and Umberto, owned by Mary Chapot, beat out 40 other starters and the 10 teams who advanced with them to the jump-off.
Laura Chapot and Umberto glide effortlessly over a Liverpool in Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, at HITS Saugerties. (Photo by ESI Photography)
International Course Designer Florencio Hernandez of Mexico City, Mexico set a test for riders and horses that called for a little bit of everything – speed, technique and alertness, thanks to a tight time of 91 seconds, which required some lean rollbacks to stay within the clock.
In the first round, it was Jeffery Welles of Brewster, New York and Noel Love Gross’ Merlin who posted the first clear ride. Two trips later, Olympian Anne Kursinski of Frenchtown, New Jersey followed with a clear round of her own aboard Karen Polle’s UDonnay Z; however, a single time fault kept them from advancing to the short course. Kursinski was one of four riders to be sidelined as a result of time faults, including 12th place finisher Michael Dorman of Wellington, Florid and his own Seventh Fee.
Five trips later, Callan Solem of Glenmoore, Pennsylvania and Torlando Group’s VDL Torlando guaranteed a jump-off when they left all the rails up to the delight of the crowd. The next big applause came when Leah DeMartini of Bronxville, New York and Elm Rock, LLC’s True Love went clear to make it three in the jump-off.
The course’s difficulties proved to be balanced as faults occurred throughout the field; however, the majority of the trouble seemed to come later in the course as 13 riders met their fate on the last half of the test. At the end of the first round, eight other horse and rider combinations joined Welles, Solem and DeMartini in the jump-off.
Marie Letterii of HITS present Laura Chapot and Umberto with first-place awards, including a complimentary bottle of chardonnay, courtesy of Sonoma-Cutrer, after their win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. (Photo by ESI Photography)
In the second round, Hernandez brought back the pesky 8A-B combination, as well as fences 9 and 13, and introduced five new fences. Welles and Merlin were first up and had a rail at the second-to-last fence, which earned them the seventh-place ribbon at the end of the class. Solem and VDL Torlando followed and crossed the timers in 48.361 seconds to set the Great American Time to Beat for the lead. Two trips later, they were edged out of first by Danielle Cooper of Syosset, New York aboard Fidelity Farms, Inc.’s Calantus with a time of 47.071 seconds.
The lead changed hands two more times with Ronan McGuigan of Far Hills, New Jersey riding his own Capall Zidane to a third-place finish in 44.189 seconds and Ireland’s Darragh Kerrins, now of Wellington, Florida, riding his own Hot Wheels to a second-place finish in 44.186 seconds. With three trips left and her father, mother, sister and twin nieces watching from the sidelines, Chapot and Umberto entered the ring focused and ready for the task at hand. The pair blazed through the timers in 43.512 seconds to secure the lead.
“This was a nice course for the Friday Grand Prix,” said Chapot, who is sponsored by SmartPak and was very proud of the win. “Florencio [Hernandez] had a lot of different kinds of tests with a spooky wall and a lot of tight distances. I was really pleased with the way my horse jumped; he felt really confident and sure of himself. We’ve been riding as a team for two years now. He’s starting to know my style and we really mesh well. He’s very fast and very careful, so I can always rely on him in that respect.”
Candice King of Wellington, Florida was next to go and managed a clear ride aboard Hyperion Stud, LLC’s Imothep HS in 45.884 seconds, which earned them the fourth-place ribbon. Junior rider Mattias Tromp of North Salem, New York was last to go aboard Beyaert Farm, Inc.’s Casey and hoped to take advantage of his position, but fell short when the A element of the double combination came down, giving the team four faults and the ninth-place ribbon.
For Hernandez, Chapot’s win was no surprise. “She’s a great rider and out of everyone in the class she really rode the course how I envisioned it by taking the options for the tight inside turns. I was hoping for eight clear, and a few more snuck in there, but in all I was pleased.” For Sunday’s $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Hernandez hopes to see five clear as the road to the Pfizer Million trucks on with just seven more qualifying classes remaining on the schedule.
Ronan McGuigan riding his own Capall Zidane to victory in Wednesday’s $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome at HITS Saugerties. (Photo by ESI Photography)
$10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome
Earlier in the week, McGuigan and Capall Zidane captured their third victory of the season in the $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome when they beat out 26 other starters to take home the blue ribbon. “This is a great young horse and we really work well together,” said McGuigan.
Karen Polle of New York, New York finished the class in second aboard her own UDonnay Z and Lauren Crooks of Snohomish, Washington took home third place aboard Crooks Show Jumping’s Dancer.
Coming Up…
High-Performance riders will have three more opportunities in the next two weeks to qualify for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix at HITS-on-the-Hudson starting with Sunday’s $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Week VI will feature another $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Friday, August 3, followed by the much anticipated $100,000 Strongid® C 2X Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday August 5.
About SmartPak Equine
Founded in 1999, SmartPak Equine is the country’s largest online and catalog retailer serving the needs of the active and engaged horse owner. The patented SmartPak™ supplement feeding system has simplified the process of feeding horse supplements and medications, making it easier for thousands of riders to keep their horses healthier by ensuring their supplements are being fed correctly. SmartPak’s diverse and expansive product offering includes its own line of supplements, tack, and horse blankets as well as an extensive selection of leading brands of equine health, apparel, tack, and equipment. SmartPak is a six-time Inc. 500/5000 honoree and is the only equine company ever named to the Inc 500 list. SmartPak is backed by Waltham, Massachusetts-based North Bridge Growth Equity.
About HITS, Inc.
HITS, Inc. produces high-quality, international-level hunter/jumper horse shows. Based in upstate New York in the village of Saugerties, HITS has been producing shows since 1982 and is now a nationwide company with world-class circuits in California, Florida, Arizona, New York and Virginia. In 2010, HITS took the industry to new heights when it hosted the first-ever Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix. In 2011, HITS hosted the richest weekend in show jumping with the return of the Pfizer Million and the introduction of the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final. In 2012, the historic weekend will get even sweeter with the addition of the $250,000 HITS 3’ Hunter Prix Final September 8-9.
For more information and a complete schedule of classes and events, visit www.HitsShows.com. Stay connected with HITS, join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!
Media should contact the HITS Media Team at 845.246.8833 or e-mail Media_Info@HitsShows.com.
