HITS Holiday Series: Ocala Holiday Festival Round-Up

Ocala, FL (December 23, 2015): The HITS Holiday Series continued last week with the Ocala Holiday Festival. Exhibitors from up and down the East Coast descended upon HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Florida, for this two-week series, offering extra preparation for the ten-week HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, beginning January 19, 2016.  

It was down to the wire in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix on Sunday as competitors went head-to-head in the battle for the blue ribbon. Divided by mere seconds, horses and riders whizzed through the 13-fence course designed by Jerry Dougherty, of Bokeelia, Florida, to vie for their shot at glory.
 

The victory went to Christina Kelly of Keene, Kentucky, and Corona 93, owned by Raylyn Farms, Inc. Kelly navigated through a clear first round in true jumper fashion with precision and power to advance. The agile team moved swiftly through the jump-off to a fault-free finish of 43.634 to take home the $7,500 prize.

Laura Linbeck and Whittaker MVNZ, owned by Woodrun, claimed the second-place title and took home $5,500. The equestrian from Mundelein, Illinois, piloted her mount through the first round to proceed to the jump-off where the team finished in a cool, clear round of 44.780.

Third-place was Gemma Paternoster of Wellington, Florida, and her horse Zonneglans. They progressed to the jump-off, clocking in with a fractionally longer time of 44.796 behind Linback to secure the third-place prize of $3,250.

Andrew Kocher of Lake St. Louis, Missouri, secured two spots in the top five. Kocher and Uppie De Lis, owned by BTS Entertainment and Sales, finished fourth in the tight race for victory, finishing the jump-off fault-free in 45.578. The horseman also finished in fifth-place in 46.793 and no faults with his horse Le Conte, earning prizes of $2,000 and $1,500, respectively.

The contest was on for the first-place title in the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Saturday. Polished teams tested the 10-fence course with grace and agility in hopes of garnering the top spot in the competitive, two-round classic.

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	R.1 Score	R. 2 Score	Total
1	Zidane	Susan Darragh	Amanda Steege	$1,500	88	88	176
2	Kenan	EHM Equestrian LLC	Donald Sheehan	$1,000	85	87	172
3	Chances R	Artillery Lane, LLC	Greg Prince	$700	89	74	163
4	Charismo	Wilbur Show Stables	David Wilbur	$500	75	82	157
5	Quintessential	EHM Equestrian LLC	Elizabeth McKim	$400	86	70	156
6	Crystal Clear	Kathryn Hall	Ashton Alexander	$350	80	75	155
7	Ausone	Kelsey Donahoe	Kelsey Donahoe	$300	70	78	148
8	Upcountry Jonas	Jamie Stryker	Emily(FL) Williams	$250	87	46	133
9	Caruso	Renessa Bartolacci	Kris Di Carlo	-	45	79	124
10	Cameron	Marianne Huss	Robert Lee	-	73	40	113
11	Cassius	Donald Stewart	Kyle Dewar	-	82.5	76	158.5

The $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix commenced on Saturday offering riders a shot at Florida’s second qualifying opportunity for the $250,000 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Final at the HITS Championship in September 2016.

Place	Horse	Owner	Rider	Prize	R.1 Score	R. 2 Score	Total
1	Upcountry Panteon	Phoenix Farms, LLC	Alec Tolle	$450	85	85	170
2	Zoe	Kristine D'Andrea	Kristine D'Andrea	$300	81	84	165
3	Brigadier	Mary Barben	Mary Barben	$200	82	75	157
4	US Marshall	Kiki Hopkins	Holly French	$150	77	79	156
5	Luxus	Benhaven Stables, LLC	Melanie Jacobson	$125	68	77	145
6	Ponsee	Marjorie Sidman	Marjorie Sidman	$100	62	78	140
7	Latigo	Kathryn Griswold	Kathryn Griswold	$100	73	65	138
8	Upcountry Cuneo	Alec Tolle & Jaime Stryker	Alec Tolle	$75	64	68	132
9	Andiamo	Lauren Hurst	Sedona Chamblee	-	52	76	128
10	Brooklyn	Stephanie Guerlain	Stephanie  Guerlain	-	80	45	125
11	Surreal	Katharine Page	Katharine Page	-	66	45	111
12	Porthos	Emmeline Guerard	Emmeline Guerard	-	70	40	110

Riders and horses were put to the test during the $7,500 U-Dump Jr/A-O Jumper Classic on Sunday. All teams were tried through a 13-fence course but only four would go clear to move on to the jump-off to compete for the winning title.

The team to beat was Erin Haas of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and As Di Chupito, owned by North Face Farms. First in the Order-of-Go, Haas went clear to move on to the jump-off where they zoomed through the 4’7” course in a fault-free time of 42.331 to capture the victory and the $2,200 prize.

The second-place win and the $1,550 check belonged to Melissa Rudershausen of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and her horse Ugolin Du Mont. They soared through the jump-off with an unfortunate rail at the second fence, crossing the marker in 41.903 with four faults.

Thaisa Erwin of Middleburg, Virginia, and her mount Matilda, took home the third-place title and a $1,050 check. After moving on to the jump-off from a fault-free first round, Erwin and Matilda finished with a time of 48.155 and eight faults.

Fourth-place went to Laurel Blakemore of Williston, Florida, and her horse Captain My Captain. Blakemore clocked in at 45.957 in the jump-off with 12 total faults. The top five concluded with Christi Israel of Ocala, Florida, and her horse Cracky Z; they came in at 87.390 in round one with one time fault. 
 

$25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix