The sun shone brightly above the action at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Florida, on Saturday morning, October 25, 2025, as athletes of the hunter, jumper, and equitation variety made their return to the iconic venue for the newly added HITS Ocala Fall Series. Highlights throughout the week included the $5,000 Alliant Private Client Cup, the $1,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby, and the fan-favorite $2,500 STX Open Speed, along with the $5,000 Horseflight Jumper Classic. Top show jumping culminated on the penultimate day of the opening week with the $20,000 HITS Open Prix, where David Cameron emerged victorious with Beijing LS La Silla after two competitive rounds.
A total of 33 horse-and-rider combinations made up the opening field for the day’s featured event. Florencio Hernandez of Mexico designed an intricate and welcoming class in the Grand Prix Ring, which saw 18 pairings successfully navigate the course without penalty and punch their ticket to the jump-off. With a majority of the returning duos finding a second fault-free performance, the deciding factor came down to who had the fastest footwork. With the top three all stopping the clock within the 40 second mark, the race to the finish was a tight one, but Cameron ultimately clocked the fastest performance after crossing the timers in 40.00 seconds flat.
“Today was always going to be a fast class,” explained Cameron. “There were lots of fast horses and riders in the draw. In the jump-off, I knew I would have to do nine strides down the first line to set the pace, and then be as fast as I could to the second-to-last fence.
For Cameron, a key to the day’s win was the way the short course favored Lauren Sloey’s talented 17-year-old La Silla gelding by Quintero Ask.
“Today’s class wasn’t built very big, so it was inviting,” he detailed. “The jump-off had both turns and open gallop areas. Beijing does both of those things well, so it suited him.
“This was a good week to build up for what’s ahead in the winter,” he continued. “Like in other years, our team will be at HITS for parts of the winter. We use fall shows to build horses and clients for what’s ahead in the winter, so it was great to be able to come to the HITS showgrounds this early and have an October date on the calendar.”
Tim Maddrix set the second-fastest finish on the clock. The Ocala rider piloted Quina Blue PS , Lynne Skaryak’s 11-year-old Oldenburg mare (Qualdandro x Chacco-Blue), quickly over the fences with a final time of 40.27 seconds, putting them in the runner-up position. Hometown hero Sharn Wordley broke out multi-time HITS Grand Prix winner Hagelin, a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Stolzenberg x Graf Grannus) owned by Della Wordley, and slipped into third place with a time of 40.95 seconds.
Ocala Fall Celebration concludes on Sunday, October 26, as amateur and junior riders return to take center stage on HITS’s Classic Sunday. Competition then resumes on Thursday, October 30, for the Ocala Fall Classic. For full results, please visit showmanagementsystem.com.
