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THERMAL, CA (March 1, 2007) —Children of all ages and their parents are invited to enjoy a day of family activities as HITS brings the fun and games to its brand new, 230-acre facility in Thermal, California, on Sunday, March 11 for Kids Day, presented by The Desert Sun and Woodrun.
Children will love watching the show jumping competition, which starts at 8 AM and goes to 5 PM and includes everything from Pony Jumper to Olympic-level Grand Prix jumping. Kids Day activities begin at 11 AM and conclude at 1 PM. With 12 rings to visit, there is lots to see and do for the entire day, including pony rides, a petting zoo and the popular T-Rex Tunnel. Future athletes can even test the speed of their fastball on a radar gun.
Other activities include caricature drawings, clowns and toy giveaways courtesy of Wishes Toy Store. Admission is $5 for adults on weekends, children 12 and under are admitted free.
Following the Kids Day activities, the grand finale of show jumping competition at the HITS Desert Circuit will take place in the Grand Prix field with the $150,000 HITS Grand Prix of the Desert, presented by Cessna Aircraft Corporation. Top Grand Prix riders from the United States and abroad will compete for the largest single purse awarded over the six weeks of competition at HITS Thermal. The $150,000 HITS Grand Prix of the Desert is one of ten qualifying events for the FEI World Cup of show jumping that will be held in Las Vegas in April.
As part of its sponsorship, Cessna Aircraft Corporation will have a static display of selected Cessna business and personal aircrafts at Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport located adjacent to the HITS Desert Horse Park. Based on unit sales, Cessna is the world's largest manufacturer of general aviation airplanes. In 2005, Cessna produced 1,157 aircrafts and reported revenues of about $3.5 billion. Since the company was originally established in 1927, more than 187,000 Cessna airplanes have been delivered to nearly every country in the world. The global fleet of more than 4,500 Citations is the largest fleet of business jets in the world. For more information about Cessna Aircraft Company visit www.cessna.com.
"Cessna is pleased to be a part of the HITS winter horse show at the new horse park in Thermal. Our stable of business jets is named after the legendary Triple Crown winner Citation, so you could say horses are in our blood," said Cessna's Director of Communication, Doug Oliver. "Like the owners, riders, trainers and spectators participating in this show, all of us at Cessna have a passion for what we do. We are excited to share our passion with the HITS equestrian community."
"We wanted to wrap up our first season at the new facility with something extra special for our exhibitors, spectators and of course, the kids,” said John Eickman, National Marketing Director of HITS. “It's been a great season here in Thermal and these three events will be the perfect exclamation point to close out the circuit."
For the past 15 years, HITS has produced a six-week winter horse show circuit in Indio, California. The 2007 HITS Desert Circuit is being held just five miles from its previous home at the new, state-of-the-art HITS Desert Horse Park equestrian facility on Airport Boulevard in Thermal, California.
The new horse park is the largest Hunter/Jumper horse show venue in the United States and has more than $10,000,000 in improvements, including stabling for more than 3,000 horses and 12 competition rings. HITS Thermal also features the new state-of-the-art footing provided by Footing Authority™ .
In January 2006, HITS entered into a private equity arrangement with Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. in Los Angeles. As a result, HITS, Inc. is able to develop and execute exciting operational and strategic initiatives that both solidify its well-established position as the leader in horse show management and allow for new growth opportunities including the construction of HITS Desert Horse Park. HITS generates significant economic impact in each of its five venues in California, Arizona, Florida, Virginia and New York.
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© Photo Provided
Kids Day returns to HITS Thermal on Sunday, March 11.
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