John Pearce victorius in the Hits Grand Prix

The sun blazed in Indio and so did the $75,000 HITS Grand Prix jump-off. One by one the bar was raised during the uncompromising competition of the class, but John Pearce and his 9-year-old Belgian Warmblood, Urioso, set the final standard to a level the other competitors couldn’t reach.

As promised, Anthony D’Ambrosio designed a bigger and more technical course than Friday’s Ariat Grand Prix arrangement. With three difficult combinations and numerous challenging lines throughout the 13-question course, it became a game of precision and scope where one mistake would be too many. Question 5, a 5’1” oxer-to-vertical 2-stride combination, prevented many riders in the class of 30 from advancing to the jump-off. But today’s crowd seemed to favor fence 4, an intimidating and exciting triple bar that most horses faced at a gallop in the fast-paced jump-off.

Throughout the jump-off, each rider dared the next to beat his time, and each dare received a rebuttal. One by one, times progressively dwindled from an already searing speed of 37.72 seconds, set by Spooner and his World Cup nominee, Live Fire. The pair was the first to ace D’Ambrosio’s methodic course in round 1 and advance to the jump-off. Spooner and Live Fire then blazed the initial trail through the jump-off course, as if to say “catch me if you can”.

After Kim Faringer and Del Destino dropped 2 rails, Eddie Macken finished clean aboard Tedechine Sept, but was 2 seconds late. But Will Simpson and Boxter answered Spooner’s round with tighter turns and shorter lines to seize the lead with a time of 36.80 seconds. Rich Fellers and McGuinness galloped a clean round next but couldn’t match pace with Simpson.

And then, Pearce and Urioso cantered into the ring, composed and confident. They took to the short but technical jump-off course with aggressive precision and inspired a roar from the crowd that grew louder as the span of their final gallop shortened. Pearce and Urioso cleared the final oxer and stopped the clock at 36.20 seconds.

Results (05.02.06)
Grand Prix
HITS Indio Desert Circuit

1 – Urioso- Forest View Farms- John Pearce – 0/0-36.20
2 – Boxster- El Campeon Farms- Will Simpson – 0/0-36.80
3 – McGuinness- Harry/Mollie Chapman- Rich Fellers – 0/0-37.30
4 – Live Fire- C&S Partnership- Richard Spooner – 0/0-37.72
5 – Carlson- Guillermo Obligado- Guillermo Obligado – 0/0-38.73
6 – Tedechine Sept- David M Robinson- Eddie Macken – 0/0-39.08
7 – Cellest 2- Ali Nilforushan Equestrian- Ali Nilforushan – 0/4-38.27
8 – Presto B- Alix Fargo- Susan Artes – 0/4
9 – Del Destino- Peter Farlinger- Kim Farlinger – 0/8-40.63
10 – Ezrah- S&B LLC Corp- Richard Spooner – 4-77.98
11 – Lady-D- Oz Investments/Sequoia Farm- Jeff Campf – 4-80.25
12 – Black Ice- Stacie Ryan- Jill Henselwood – 4-82.69