John Bragg and Social Hour Win $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix for Third Time at HITS Desert Circuit

Thermal, California (February 6, 2015): John Bragg and Laura Strasburg's Social Hour took top prize once more in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix Saturday afternoon at HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, California.

Second-place winner Jenny Karazissis, riding Sierrah Gonzalez’s Norwegian Wood, bested Bragg in the first round with a score of 87 to Bragg's 86, but Bragg trumped Karazissis in Round 2 with an 88 to her 85, to take the blue ribbon and secure his third first place Devoucoux Hunter Prix win this year.

Bragg, who took a total of three out of the top six places Saturday, including fifth on London, owned by Cindy Fox, and sixth on Lukatoni owned by Pamela Moellenhoff had also won weeks one and two of this season’s HITS Desert Circuit on Strasburg’s Social hour. Karazissis, on Endeavor, owned by Linda Gatti Sears, also took seventh place in this Saturday’s Devoucoux Hunter Prix.

“The course was great – long bending lines,” said Bragg, after riding over to claim his ribbon. Still atop Social Hour, with Strasburg nearby, he added, “They set it up just right, so we kind of galloped. It was  nice open course.”

When asked about his repeat wins, Bragg added, “I have some very nice horses this year; I'm very lucky. This horse has won four [HITS Devoucoux Hunter Prix], the first one in November at the National Sunshine Series Week II, and three of the four here, too.” Strasburg just bought the 17 hand 8-year-old chestnut gelding in November. “He literally just showed up at the horse show in November. He's gotten better and better each week,” Bragg said.

Karazissis said Bragg’s been tough to beat, but she’s proud of the horses she rode. “I had three in the [Saturday’s Devoucoux] class; two made it back to the second round. The other one I ended up seventh. This is his [Endeavor’s] first Hunter Prix. He's just doing the 3' 3" pre-greens starting this year,” she said. “I was very proud of the way he handed it.

“Norwegian Wood is very brave, and I didn't expect him to care at all. This is his second derby; he was fourth last time so it's nice that he moved up a little bit and got second this time, but John has been pretty impossible to beat. He beat me in November; I was second to him. And then I've been second to him Week II, and fourth last time. He's been really tough to beat.”

(c) ESI Photography
John Bragg and Laura Strasburg's Social hour take the blue for the third time Friday, February 6, in the 2015 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, California.

 

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Rd. 1/2	Total
1	Social Hour	Laura Strasburg	John Bragg	$1,500	86/88	174
2	Norwegian Wood	Sierrah Gonzalez	Jenny Karazissis	$1,000	87/85	172
3	Rococco	Avery Hellman	Eleanor Hellman	$700	84/84	168
4	Frido	Megan Carmaisa	Tanya Levorchick	$500	80/85.5	165.5
5	London	Cindy Fox	John Bragg	$400	83-82	165
6	Lukatoni	Pamela Moellenhoff	John Bragg	$350	78.5/86	164.5
7	Endeavor	Linda Gatti Sears	Jenny Karazissis	$300	82/81	163
8	Corduroy	Kings Wood Farm LLC	Gretchen Lof	$250	81/81/5	162.5

$1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix
Thirteen-year-old Jillian Stuart claimed the blue ribbon in Saturday morning’s $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix, riding Eduardo Leon’s Amazing, with top scores of 83 and 84.

“I showed him last weekend in the low junior hunters,” the eighth-grader said. “It felt really good,” said Stuart, a Rancho Santa Fe, California, resident, who has been riding since she was 5-years-old.

Maeve O’Connor, of Santa Barbara, California, riding her own Second City, came in a close second with 85 and 81, to total one point below Stuart’s 167, at 166. Rounding out the top three was Lolly McLellan on her own Rockford, with scores of 75.5 and 83.

(c) ESI Photography
Jillian Stuart and Eduardo Leon's Amazing took first place in the $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix on Friday, February 6, 2015, at HITS Thermal.

$1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix (DV IV)

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Rd. 1/2	Total
1	Amazing	Eduardo Leon	Jillian Stuart	$450	83/84	167
2	Second City	Meave O'Connor	Meave O'Connor	$300	85/81	166
3	Rockford	Lolly McLellan	Lolly McLellan	$200	75.5/83	158.5
4	Back in Business	Mary Kate Moulton	Tonya Johnston	$150	78/80	158
5	Fine Design	Kaitlyn Lovingfoss	Kaitlyn Lovingfoss	$125	82/74.5	156.5
6	Valentino	Madeline Cristy	Megan Dalton	$100	76/79	155
7	Czech Point	European Equine Associates	Emma Townsend	$100	76.5/78	154.5
8	Double Eagle	Nicolette Hirt	Jennifer Berman	$75	79/75	154

$10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix
This Saturday’s Desert Circuit IV wins follow on the heels of the Desert Circuit III Hunter Prix, which boasted extra-large prizes: $10,000 for the Devoucoux Hunter Prix and $5,000 for the Platinum Performance Hunter Prix.

The Devoucoux Hunter Prix is a qualifying class for the $500,000 Diamond Mills Hunter Prix Final and the Platinum Performance Hunter Prix is a qualifier for the $250,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final, which are both held in Saugerties in September.

Jamie Taylor, on Julie Hancock’s Willow CBF, topped the Sunday, February 1, leaderboard, taking home a $3,000 prize, thanks to her high scores of 86 and 87, to total 173. Bragg, not far behind with scores of 85 and 87, to total 172, came in second place, this time on Moellenhoff’s Lukatoni (Week IV’s sixth place winner). Rounding out third was Grady Lyman on his Cansas, with scores of 85.5 and 86.

After the win, Willow's trainer Philip Cillis patted the mare’s neck and said, “It was a nice flowing course today. Lots of bending lines, open gallop space, and jumps off a corner. Willow is good about looking ahead, and yet waiting for the jump. She was Champion in the Amateur-Owners with Julie the last two weeks and I guess we can laugh and say Julie got her all warmed up for Jamie and this class. The win is a wonderful result.”

Taylor also took sixth in the hunter prix, riding Caroline Eliades’ Jager, to earn scores of 83.5 and 85. Karazissis, again not far behind Bragg, came in fourth on Norwegian Wood with 85.75 and 85. Tommi Clark, on Stephen Borders’ Exemplar, earned scores of 83 and 86 to come in fifth.

(c) ESI Photography
Jamie Taylor and Julie Hancock's Willow CFB won the blue ribbon in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix Sunday, February 1, 2015 at HITS Thermal.

$10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix (DC III)

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Rd. 1/2	Total
1	Willow CBF	Julie Hancock	Jamie Taylor	$3,000	86/87	173
2	Lukatoni	Pamela Moellenhoff	John Bragg	$2,000	85/87	172
3	Cansas	Grady Lyman	Grady Lyman	$1,400	85.5/86	171.5
4	Norwegian Wood	Sierrah Gonzalez	Jenny Karazissis	$1,000	85.75/85	170.75
5	Exemplar	Stephen Borders	Tommi Clark	$800	83/86	169
6	Jager	Caroline Eliades	Jamie Taylor	$700	83.5/85	168.5
7	Legacy	Emily Sukert	Jenny Karazissis	$600	84/84	168
8	Social Hour	Laura Strasburg	John Bragg	$500	84.5/82	166.5

$5,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix
Tonya Johnston placed first in the $5,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix last week, riding Mary Kate Moulton’s Back in Business to earn the top $1,500 prize, with scores of 81 and 83, for a total of 164.

Johnston maintained the lead she set in the first round, being the only rider out of 12 to earn a score in that was in the 80s in both the first and second rounds.

Seven points separated Johnston’s total with second place winner Anna Moellenhoff on Rosie Garlock’s Genry, who earned scores of 78 and 79. Root and Lio Cavallo were in sixth place after the first round, but their second round score of 79 moved them up to third.

iJump Sports contributed to this report.

(c) ESI Photography
Tonya Johnston and Mary Kate Moulton's Back in Business win the Desert Circuit III $5,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix on Sunday, February 1, 2015, at HITS Thermal.

$5,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix (DV III)

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Rd. 1/2	Total
1	Back in Business	Mary Kate Moulton	Tonya Johnston	$1,500	81/83	164
2	Gentry	Rosie Garlock	Anna Moellenhoff	$1,000	78/79	157
3	Lio Cavallo	Stacy Root	Stacy Root	$700	77/79	156
4	Rio Negro	Yvette Lang-Einczig	Yvetter Lang-Einczig	$500	77.25/78	155.25
5	Rockford	Lolly McLellan	Lolly McLellan	$400	76.5/78	154.5
6	Gruyere SM	Martha Howe Crowley	Elli Yeager	$325	76/78	154
7	Czech Point	European Equine Associates	Emma Townsend	$300	75/77	152
8	Landino	Latigo Farms	Yvette Lang-Einczig	$275	79/72	151

Augusta Iwasaki Takes First and Second Place in Desert Circuit III $1,000 Pony Hunter Classic

Augusta Iwasaki and her ponies took first and second place in the $1,000 Pony Hunter Classic at the HITS Desert Circuit III.

Iwasaki scored 86 and 81 in the class to land in first place on somekindawonderful, which she co-owns with Elizabeth Reilly. She and Bit of Laughter, which the pair also co-own, scored 83 and 85, to secure second as well. Iwasaki also earned numerous ribbons in the pony classes last fall at HITS' inaugural National Sunshine Series.

Brooke Morin came in third place in the $1,000 Pony Hunter Classic -- and took fourth and seventh, as well. All told, Morin and Iwasaki secured five of the top seven places in the class. In third place, Morin scored 84 and 82 on Laura Strasburg's Madeline, and 82 and TK on Strasburg's Party Favor.

(c) ESI Photography
Augusta Iwasaki and Somekindawonderful jump to victory in the $1,000 Pony Hunter Classic at HITS Desert Circuit III on Friday, January 30, 2015.

$1,000 Pony Hunter Classic

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Rounds 1/2	Total
1	somekindawonderful	Iwasaki & Reilly	Augusta Iwasaki	$300	86/86	172
2	Bit of Laughter	Iwasaki & Reilly	Augusta Iwasaki	$200	83/85	168
3	Madeline	Laura Strasburg	Brooke Morin	$140	84/82	166
4	Party Favor	Laura Strasburg	Brooke Morin	$90	82/83	165
5	Champagne Wishes	Madison England	Madison England	$75	77/81	158
6	Kingston	Ava Peck	Ava Peck	$70	79/76	155
7	Always Happy	Laura Strasburg	Brooke Morin	$65	75/80	155
8	Captain America	MacKenzie Root	MacKenzie Root	$60	78/69.5	147.5

About Devoucoux
Devoucoux, maker of fine French saddles, is proud to be the title sponsor of each and every qualifying Hunter Prix leading up to the phenomenal Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final. Devoucoux offers a wide range of saddles in many colors and sizes and matching accessories. Devoucoux craftsmen are devoted to creating beautiful products that reflect their obsession with quality and lovingly finished work. For more information on Devoucoux, visit devoucoux.com.

About Platinum Performance
Platinum Performance provides more than 10 supplements essential to your horse’s health and conditioning in just one scoop. Platinum Performance® Equine addresses a horse's total body health from joint and hoof care to athletic performance and coat health, and is the 2014 sponsor of the $250,000 Hunter Prix Final and all qualifiers. For more information on Platinum Performance, visit platinumperformance.com.

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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.

While hosting the richest weekend in show jumping at HITS-on-the-Hudson, HITS also formed the Triple Crown of Show Jumping. This includes the AIG $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Mortgage Call, in Thermal, California, the Great American $1 Million Grand Prix in Ocala, Florida, and Saugerties $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by Wells Fargo, in Saugerties, New York.

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.