Will Simpson Continues Mastery of HITS Thermal with Fifth Grand Prix Win

Thermal, California (January 30, 2015): Olympic Gold Medalist Will Simpson has virtually shut out the field of Grand Prix riders so far at HITS Desert Horse Park. Simpson, riding S.F. Ariantha, claimed his fifth consecutive victory with a first place finish in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix on Friday. S.F. Ariantha, a new mount for Simpson, is owned Olivia Cox-Fill.

Thirty-five riders competed in the class and 11 returned for the jump-off. Simpson took home the $7,500 top prize by cleanly completing the jump-off course in 39.033 seconds -- just a tenth of a second faster than  second place finisher Karl Cook on Basimodo, owned by Signe Ostby, with a time of 39.130 seconds. A little more than a full second behind Simpson and Cook, to finish in third, was Kara Chad, riding Stone Ridge Farms LLC’s Alberto II, in a clean 40.551 seconds. Both Cook and Chad finished in the top six on other horses, Cook with Ostby’s Tembla in fourth, and Chad on Stone Ridge’s Zamiro 16, in sixth.

Simpson said S.F. Ariantha “is a really fast horse and a different ride, for me but I loved it." He praised the setting, too, adding, "It's such a nice circuit here and I am in my zone, as they say. Everything is rolling along pretty good…I probably need to pinch myself a little.”

Second-place finisher Cook said, “We went as fast as we could but Will went faster. I am really proud of both horses. They are really ready for Sunday (the $50,000 Horze Equestrian Grand Prix).” He said of his strategy, “I took a chance on the inside turn toward the last two jumps and it worked. I knew on this horse I couldn't do the eight strides later so I had to ramp up somehow. I thought I'd do what no one else did, and see if I could get an advantage but still do the nine strides. Will was just faster."

Chad, in third place, noting the competitive spirit of the jump-off said, “It was a fast jump-off for all of us. The course was not 'too' big but it got bigger as it went along so you had to take that into account -- leave the jumps up but go as fast as you can. I tried to give Karl a run for his money but he just out did me a bit in the end.”

Select HITS Thermal and Hits Ocala Grand Prix events are available to watch live and on-demand at USEFNetwork.com.

 

(c) ESI Photography
Will Simpson jumped clear and fast to take first place on S.F. Arlantha, owned by Olivia Cox-Fill, in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS Thermal, January 30, 2015.

(c) ESI Photography
Will Simpson once again takes first place, this time on S.F. Arlantha, owned by Olivia Cox-Fill, in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS Thermal, January 30, 2015.

$25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix

 

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	Round 1 Faults	JO Faults	JO Time
1	S.F. Arlantha	Olivia Cox-Fill	William Simpson	$7,500	0	0	39.033
2	Basimodo	Signe Ostby	Karl Cook	$5,000	0	0	39.130
3	Alberto II	Stone Ridge Farms LLC	Kara Chad	$3,250	0	0	40.551
4	Tembla	Signe Ostby	Karl Cook	$2,000	0	0	41.422
5	The Pugilist	Stone Ridge Farms LLC	Bretton Chad	$1,500	0	0	42.865
6	Zamiro 16	Stone Ridge Farms LLC	Kara Chad	$1,250	0	0	43.637
7	Zilox T	Haley Farms LLC	Tiffany Sullivan	$1,000	0	0	44.926
8	Cassiato	Oak Park Group LLC	Harley Brown	$750	0	0	46.158
9	Baldira	Mirador & Paul Schockemohle	Ray Texel	$750	0	4	42.513
10	Zeddam	Stone Ridge Farms LLC	Bretton Chad	$500	0	4	43.131
11	Caretol	Moonlite Beach LLC	Marc Grock	$500	0	4	45.243
12	Christian Grey	Haley Farm LLC	Tiffany Sullivan	$500	2	*	*

 

About SmartPak
SmartPaks are custom made, pre-measured daily dose Paks of your horse's supplements. They are clearly labeled with your horse's name for fast, accurate feeding every time. Tightly sealed to protect potency, SmartPaks ensure that your horse always has the freshest supplements available. Best of all, SmartPaks over $40 are delivered free automatically every 28 days, so you never worry about running out.

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