PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
March 10, 2006

OCALA, FL (March 10, 2006) -- On Thursday, Aaron Vale scored his fourth Grand Prix win at HITS Ocala when he cut the corners in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix to post the winning time of 33.83 seconds with Serval. Over the past six weeks, Serval, an eleven-year-old gelding imported from Germany last December has been showing tremendous form for Vale, giving him three out of his four wins.

International course designer Leopoldo Palacios of Caracas, Venezuela presented the riders with a series of questions that required some careful riding when combined with a tight time-allowed.

In round one, three riders had no jumping faults but the time-allowed got the better of them. Palacios managed to whittle the field of 34 starters down to seven for the jump-off.

Aaron Vale brought two horses into the jump-off, and opened the round with Serval. With the bigger goal of Sunday's $100,000 Grand Prix of Ocala presented by Great American Insurance Group weighing on his mind, Aaron Vale was not taking any chances with Serval. "My plan was to cut the turns to the two verticals very, very tight and not really run too much because I didn't want to stress my horse with a lot of speed. There were three separate lines in the jump-off, and I didn't leave a stride out in any of those lines. I was quite slow between the fences, but I cut all the turns very close and that was just enough to put the pressure on the others."

Kylee Jo Johnson and Landintendant were second to go in the jump-off. Johnson put in a good effort, posting a clear round just a second shy of Aaron Vale's time to pick up the red ribbon.

David Wright riding Step Right Up came closest to toppling Vale. Wright shaved one tenth of a second off Vale's time, but he paid for it with a rail down, which meant third place for him.

Aaron Vale was back in the ring again with Droxello. The pair had a four-fault round in 39.10 seconds.

The next three riders, Libby McKinney and Gun Du Desfi, Roberto Teran and Jamestown, and Derek Petersen with Heaven Bound, all posted faults.

The excitement is building in Ocala as riders prepare for Sunday's big class, the $100,000 Grand Prix of Ocala presented by Great American Insurance Group. Aaron Vale will be riding Serval, and he will also ride Artur the horse with which he won the class last year. Another win for Vale would be the icing on the cake, but it won't be a cake-walk.

Callan Solem has Mianta on top form, and has already grabbed two wins from Vale during the circuit. Derek Petersen, a previous winner of the big class, is always ready to give it a shot. Kylee Jo Johnson is one to watch on Landintendant. And don't forget former bull-rider Sergio Campos with his super-fast mare Shakira Do Jacare.

The competitive tension is sure to delight spectators and deliver an exciting close to the 2006 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit.

For complete horse show results please visit http://www.hitsshows.com.

$25,000 HITS Grand Prix - Thursday, March 9, 2006
HITS V - Ocala Winter Finals, Ocala, FL
Course Designer: Leopoldo Palacios, Caracas, Venezuela

MEDIA CONTACT: Mary Creech, HITS Media & Public Relations, 319 Main Street, Saugerties, New York 12477-1330. Tel: 845-246-8833, Fax: 845-246-6371, E-Mail: mcreech@frontiernet.net. Web: www.HitsShows.com