On Saturday, January 17, the penultimate day of the opening week of the 2026 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, all eyes were glued to the Grand Prix Ring, as top combinations took their final warm-up fence ahead of the afternoon’s premier event, the $60,000 HITS Grand Prix. Held at the iconic HITS Post Time Farm, the popular series features 10 weeks of top-tier hunter, jumper, and equitation competition in “The Horse Capital of the World,” including a weekly national grand prix. Bringing the heat from the get-go, Ocala local Tracy Fenney (USA) and longtime partner MTM Apple picked up right where they left off last season, delivering the speedy performance they are known for to claim the winning title.
The competition’s starting field consisted of an impressive mixture of veteran combinations as well as up-and-coming pairs to contest Steffen Buehling’s (GER) opening track. Incorporating several bending lines and related distances, Buehling’s course utilized the entirety of the venue’s expansive Grand Prix Ring, and presented a fair challenge to the contenders. First in the arena, Fenney set the standard early with a fault-free effort aboard the MTM Farm’s 15-year-old Danish Warmblood mare (Favorit Ask x Willemoes).
“She always rises to the occasion,” said Fenney of her winning partner. “She comes to the show and I don’t have to worry about what they set or anything because she just knows her job. She can run and leave strides out and she can roll back. She has such good footwork, and I think that’s what makes her so quick.
“She’s got a big, huge stride,” continued Fenney. “She can gallop across, and then if I’m getting to a deep distance, she can still get out of the way because her feet are just so fast. It’s really a cool feeling.”
At the completion of round one, a total of nine horse-and-rider duos had successfully navigated the test without penalty and punched their ticket to the jump-off. As the first to return for the short course, the well-seasoned pair kicked it into a high gear, once again leaving all the rails in the cups and crossing the timers in 36.980 seconds. That left the rest of the field chasing their seemingly impossible time, and in the end, no one could catch Fenney and MTM Apple. Though the duo already appears to be a well-oiled machine, they are only ramping up as they make plans for a dominating season.
“Mike [McCormick] is always like ‘Are we going to jump her today? We need to do something with her or she’s going to be out of shape and not ready,’ and I’m just like ‘She’s fine.’ Now that the Winter Circuit has started here, we will have a routine going, and it will be even better because I’ll just jump her once a week in these Saturday grand prix classes.”
Giving it their all, Dominique Damico (USA) and her own Cava, a 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Cadensky x Clinton), came the closest to catching Fenney, but settled for second place, as they posted a time still almost three seconds slower in 39.592 seconds. Guaranteeing an all-female podium, Chloe Desjarlais (USA) achieved the only other double-clear effort of the class to round out third place on Casastello PS, Kelly Andrews-Wahl’s 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Casallco x Quick Star).
The first week of the 2026 HITS Winter Circuit will conclude on Sunday, January 18, 2026, with amateur and junior riders taking center stage on Jumper Classic Sunday. For a full list of results, please visit showmanagementsystem.com.
