Lane Clarke and Semira De Saulieu Win $50,000 Card Flex Grand Prix at HITS Thermal

Thermal, California (March 8, 2015) – Lane Clarke and Semira De Saulieu, owned by Charlotte Gadbois, topped the $50,000 CardFlex Grand Prix at HITS Desert Horse Park Saturday afternoon, trumping a field of 52 competitors, with a clear round in the jump-off and a time of 39.309 seconds.

Karl Cook, winner of Friday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, placed second Sunday, this time on Tembla, owned by Signe Ostby. Cook finished double-clear in a time of 39.361. Jaime Azcarraga on his Anton Radio Formula rounded out the top three in a clear 40.120 seconds.

Thirteen riders made it into the jump-off, and the top six went double-clear, with a tight spread in their finishing times of less than three seconds. Cook, who went sixth in the jump-off had the fastest time until Clark's turn in the ring. The stage had been set for Clarke, with a total of five double-clears before him, amping up the pressure to complete the shortened course even faster, and without faults.  Clarke went 11th in the jump-off, besting Cook by eight-tenths of a second.

 

"It was a great jump-off," Clarke said. "My mare really stepped up. I took a lot of chances; she answered every question above and beyond what she needed too. With a class like that you had to take risks."

 

The other double-clear finishers included: Rich Fellers on Flexible, owned by Harry and Mollie Chapman, in 40.160; Richard Spooner on Cristallo, owned by Show Jumping Syndications International in 40.216; and Greg Broderick, last Sunday's $50,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix winner, on Caledonia Stables' Going Global in 41.598.

"The jump-off was really stacked, and I went toward the end," Clarke said. "I knew before watching that it was going to be really fast. With that many hot shots in the course you had to go really fast and you had to go clean or you weren't going to get a good placing."

One more Grand Prix — the $25,000 SmartPak Wild Card Grand Prix this Friday — takes place at HITS Thermal before the AIG $ Million Grand Prix Sunday, March 15, where the top riders compete for their share of a $1 Million purse in the First Jewel of the HITS Triple Crown of Show Jumping.

General admission tickets are on sale now for the AIG $1 Million Grand Prix, presented by MortgageCall, Sunday, March 15! General Admission tickets are $10 per person. Children under 12 are free. Tickets are available at the Main Gate on the day of the show. For more spectator information, click here.


(c) ESI Photography
Lane Clarke and Semira De Saulieu win the the $50,000 Card Flex Grand Prix, Sunday, March 8, 2015, at HITS Thermal.


(c) ESI Photography
Lane Clarke and Semira De Saulieu win the the $50,000 Card Flex Grand Prix, Sunday, March 8, 2015, at HITS Thermal.

$50,000 Card Flex Grand Prix - HITS Thermal - Week VII

Place Horse Owner Rider Prize Rd. 1 Faults JO Faults JO Time
1 Semira De Saulieu Charlotte Gadbois Lane Clarke $15,000 0 0 39.309
2 Tembla Signe Ostby Karl Cook $11,000 0 0 39.361
3 Anton Radio Formula Jaime Azcarraga Jaime Azcarraga $6,500 0 0 40.120
4 Flexible Harry & Mollie Chapman Rich Fellers $4,000 0 0 40.160
5 Cristallo Show Jumping Syndications Int'l Richard Spooner $3,000 0 0 40.216
6 Going Global Caledonia Stables Greg Broderick $2,500 0 0 41.598
7 Asb Conquistador Signe Ostby Eric Navet $2,000 0 4 37.790
8 Katie Riddle Monarch International William Simpson $1,500 0 4 39.331
9 Chivas Z Richard Spooner Richard Spooner $1,500 0 4 40.422
10 Quintol Mercedes Benz Santiago Hank Eduardo Menezes $1,000 0 4 42.958
11 Quidam Blue Juniper Farms & Equitop Farms Jill Henselwood $1,000 0 4 46.548
12 Ketchica John Perez Bohm Carlos Perez Bohm $1,000 0 8 43.708

 



About Card Flex

CardFlex offers customers in growing industries and emerging markets innovative prepaid solutions to help them effectively conduct business.  The CardFlex Visa® prepaid debit card allows employees to have their pay directly deposited onto a debit card which can be used for purchases wherever Visa® debit cards are accepted.  Cards can also be used for ATM withdrawals, bill paying, grocery purchases or e-commerce.  CardFlex also offers the ability to get cash back with purchases made at participating retailers. For more information, visit cardflexprepaid.com.


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


 2015 Horse Show Dates

HITS Desert Circuit  |  Thermal, CA  |  January 13 - March 15, 2015
HITS Ocala Winter Circuit    |  Ocala, FL  |  January 13 - March 23, 2015
HITS Arizona Winter Circuit  |  Tucson, AZ  |  January 28 - March 8, 2015
HITS Culpeper Show Series  |  Culpeper, VA  |  April / July / August / September
HITS Saugerties Show Series  |  Saugerties, NY  |  May-June / July-August / September
HITS Championship  |  Saugerties, NY  |  September 2-6, 2015
HITS Marshall & Sterling Insurance National Finals  |  September 9-13, 2015
National Sunshine Series  |  October 28 - November 8, 2015