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Bond and Wistful win the night in HITS Grand Prix

Feb 11, 2013

Thermal, CA - Before the start of HITS Desert Horse Park’s $54,500 HITS Grand Prix CSI-W2*, presented by Zoetis, course designer Florencio Hernandez of Mexico said that his goal was to have between one and three clear. He landed on the low side of that projection with no need for a jump-off as Ashlee Bond was the only one to go clean in the first round aboard Wistful.

Riding a California-bred mare owned by her family’s Little Valley Farm, Bond of Hidden Hills, California was one among 24 riders to tour the track. Nayel Nasser was the only other rider to finish the course with no jumping faults, but one time fault landed him second place with his own Raging Bull Vangelis S.

Rich Fellers riding Harry and Mollie Chapman’s Flexible, was the fastest of the four-faulters, breaking the beam at 80.37 seconds to finish third. Of the six who finished with four faults, only two others made the time: Karl Cook on Signe Ostby’s Jonkheer Z, whose 81.27 seconds rounds was good enough for fourth; and Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on Octavia Farms’ Malou who finished fifth in 82.68 seconds.

Grand prix riders will have one more chance to earn World Cup points this circuit, in the $54,500 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, February 23 during Desert Circuit IV.

Steinwedell-Carvin and Acer top Level 7 Jumper Field

Gusty winds sent many running for cover, but Francie Steinwedell-Carvin went running for the blue ribbon instead, jumping to the top of the Level 7 Jumper class on Cayla Richards’ Acer Friday afternoon. In second place, Karianne Boyce-Lockhart and Poseidon Stables’ Hopscotch were the only other pair to make the jump-off, but finished more than six seconds behind in the 1.40m class. Lucy Davis and Old Oak Farm’s Nemo 119 placed third; Kelly Koss-Brix and Spruce Meadows LLC’s Quetchup De La Roque finished fourth; and Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Octavia Farms’ Cantano were fifth.

1 Wistful - Ashlee Bond - 0
2 Raging Bull Vangelis S - Nayel Nassar - 1
3 Flexible - Rich Fellers - 4
4 Jonkheer Z - Karl Cook -4
5 Malou - Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum -4
6 Kiss The Sky - Lane Clarke -5
7 Utopia - John Perez -5
8 Unbelievable - Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum -5
9 Springtime - Saer Coulter -5
10 Nemo 119 - Lucy Davis -8

Source Usefnetwork.com