The penultimate day of Post Time Premier II on Saturday, January 11, at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, Florida, proved to be one of the most exciting yet, as a field of fierce competitors geared up for the featured $35,000 Grand Prix. As a new addition to the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit schedule, the two weeks of the Post Time Premier, managed by WEST Horse Shows, have set the tone for an action-packed season at the iconic venue. A star-studded group of 21 top horse-and-rider combinations contested the course for the day’s main event, but some slick moves laid down by Canada’s Paul Halpern left him and his mount Esra well ahead of the remaining challengers to take the win.
In his HITS Ocala debut, Germany’s Steffen Buehling took his turn at course designing in the venue’s Grand Prix Ring throughout the second week of the Post Time Premier series, presenting a Grand Prix challenge worthy of the top-notch competitors on the start list. The roster included a stacked field of established pairs, as well as rising show jumping stars, all eager to score their first big win of the year early in the season.
Ocala local and New Zealand Olympian Sharn Wordley laid down an early fault-free round aboard his long-time partner Mick Jagger before doubling down with another clean round on Hagelin. At the completion of the first round, the returning jump-off count included a total of six contenders representing a truly international field, with Halpern, Vicente Guillen (VEN), Tom Managhan (GBR), and Jelmer Hoekstra (NED) joining Wordley for the short course.
Wordley set a high bar to beat as the first to return with an impressive performance in 39.413 seconds aboard Mick Jagger, Della Wordley’s 17-year-old Hannoverian gelding (Chacco-Blue x Dobel’s Cento), but left the door open just enough for two determined competitors to overcome him, ultimately settling into the third-place position. Returning toward the end of the jump-off, Halpern produced several exceptionally efficient turns, which Esra is known for, to effectively shut out the remaining riders. Hoekstra left it all on the field as he gave his best effort to catch Halpern, but he remained roughly a second over the leading time to take second place with K-One PGO, Hoekstra Stables’s 10-year-old KWPN mare (F-One USA x Koriander).
“Esra is a really good turner, so I sliced it to the liverpool fence, but I think I really got the time on the turn to the second to last jump,” detailed Halpern of his winning round. “I spun around on that sucker, but that’s her forte. That’s really what she does. Then I pretty much knew I had it there.”
Halpern’s confidence in the 13-year-old Holsteiner mare (Bratt Z x Nekton), owned by his own barn manager Vanessa Lee, comes from a lifetime of partnership and a relationship that epitomizes mutual understanding and appreciation.
“She’s 13 years old, but I’ve ridden her from the end of her four-year-old year, so I’ve done everything with her,” he explained. “I love her to death. We never knew how big she was going to be able to jump, but she’s all heart and a real fighter. I know her as well as a family member.”
The win is the first of what Halpern hopes will be many over the 2025 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, as he feels that both he and Esra perform especially well at the venue.
“I’m here at HITS Ocala for the whole winter because I love it here and she generally jumps very well here,” he stated. “I’ve been coming here off and on since the very first year, and I can’t say enough about the improvements. It’s fabulous and it’s horse friendly. I’m a horse guy; I love my horses and they love it here, so that seals the deal.”
Sunday brought forward the finale of jumper action for Post Time Premier II, as riders of all ages and levels competed across classic competitions. Taking center stage in the Grand Prix Ring, 16 pairings vied for the top spot in the $10,000 1.30m Open Jumper Classic, but the best in field went to none other than Declan Egan.
In the immediate jump-off format, Egan went late in the order of go, but made his double-clear effort count aboard Ryan Haselden’s eight-year-old Selle Français gelding by Satisfaction, Hector du Gue, putting the pedal to the metal in a speedy round that stopped the clock in 42.630 seconds.
“I think I really got it at the last jump,” admitted Egan. “I thought I was a little slow to the third-last and second-last, but then I think to the last fence he was brilliant, and we just kept going.Hector du Gue is a new horse to us; he was just brought over by the Haselden family, and I didn’t really plan on going as fast as I did. When he got in the ring, he felt good, and he likes to go fast.
“These weeks have been a great way to get some of the older horses back out after Christmas and build up for next week,” he concluded.
Prior to Egan’s winning round, Jenni McAllister appeared to have the class in the bag after delivering a solid performance in 42.820 seconds with Viksberg Sateri AB’s 18-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare by Escudo I, Escada V S. Ultimately, McAllister would have to settle for the runner-up spot this time around. Marylisa Leffler’s newest mount, the 11-year-old KWPN gelding by Carrera, Gentleman Jack, owned by Marylisa Leffler LLC, notched into the third-place position with a tidy time of 43.010 seconds.
The newly constructed Post Time Ring saw its fair share of jumper action with junior and amateur riders contesting the $1,000 The League Junior/Amateur 1.0m Jumper Classic and the $500 The League Junior/Amateur .90m Jumper Classic. In the former, it was young rider Peyton Villalona who piloted Madison Kondracki’s 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Shutterfly, right to the top of the leaderboard in 38.988 seconds in the jump-off. Out of a four-horse jump-off field in the .90m classic, Anne Moody proved unbeatable aboard her own nine-year-old Oldenburg mare, MTM Caithana, after delivering the fastest fault-free finish in 39.127 seconds.
Hunter, jumper, and equitation competition will return to HITS Post Time Farm on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, as the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit kicks off for ten action-packed weeks.
