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Michaels-Beerbaum pilots Bella Donna to $350,000

Mar 18, 2013

With a first-place prize of $350,000 on the line, Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum rose to the occasion, piloting Bella Donna to a paycheck she will not soon forget as winner of the first-ever AIG Thermal $1 Million Grand Prix. The best of only two clear rounds, Michaels-Beerbaum and the 10-year-old mare capitalized on a successful season at HITS Desert Horse Park with the sweetest win of them all.

There were 40 competitors vying for a slice of the million dollar pie. After 32 had completed the first-round course without a single clear, it appeared that no one would crack the code that was Olympic gold medalist Conrad Homfeld’s track and a jump-off of four-faulters became a real possibility. Spectators looked on in anticipation as John Pearce o rode in on Chianto and cracked the code to a triumphant clear round.

Five trips later, Duncan McFarlane was clear riding for his native New Zealand. Unfortunately, a single time fault barred him and Mr. Whoopy from the jump-off landing him in third overall. With only three more challenges to Pearce, Michaels-Beerbaum entered on her bay mare and guaranteed a two-horse test with a flawless effort over Homfeld’s 14-obstacle track, which featured 17 jumping efforts at heights up to 1.60m.

In the jump-off, Pearce was clear until a slight rub at the second-to-last fence led a rail down for four faults. All Michaels-Beerbaum and Bella Donna had to do was go clear, and go clear she did. Despite picking up three time faults, victory was hers. Pearce posted a time of 53.70 seconds, while Michaels-Beerbaum rode in 56.70 seconds with a 54-second time allowed.

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Source: Horses International / HITS

1 765 Bella Donna EOS Sport / Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum
2 904 Chianto Forest View Farm & Allison Moore John Pearce
3 736 Mr. Whoopy Simone Coxe Duncan McFarlane
4 843 Jonkheer Z Signe Ostby Karl Cook
5 1223 Sandor De La Pomme The Wannahave Group Peter Wylde
6 1227 Campbell VDL Stateside Farm LLC Candice King
7 338 Flexible Harry & Mollie Chapman Rich Fellers
8 1061 Bristol Grey Fox Farm Rusty Stewart
9 89 Wistful Little Valley Farms Ashlee Bond
10 586 George B Gingras Equestrian Ltd Jill Henselwood