David Beisel posted the fastest double-clear round aboard Harlow Investment Enterprises’ Patoile to win the $50,000 Ring Power Grand Prix to complete Week V of the Ocala Winter Circuit at HITS Post Time Farm, in Ocala, Florida.
Beisel took on a field of 39 that challenged the course built by former Olympic Course Designer Olaf Petersen, Sr. of Paehl, Germany. Ten advanced to the jump-off and Beisel came out on top to secure the first-place check of $15,000.
Patty Stovel would start off the jump-off with her Grand Prix horse Shandor 41. The 2008 USGPL Leading Rider would drop a rail early in the course and finish the afternoon in ninth place. Chuck Waters and 747 were next on course and dropped a rail near the end to finish in eighth.
The third trip of the jump-off would result in the first clear round, when Callan Solem set the Great American Time to Beat at 38.856 aboard Quiet Winter Farm and B.J. Maghan’s horse Allison. Solem, who has been consistent in all of the Grand Prix classes throughout the circuit, would end the day with the third place yellow ribbon.
Solem’s time to catch didn’t last for long, however. Beisel would show fourth aboard Patoile , and would take the lead for good, jumping clean in a time of 37.658 to secure the blue ribbon when the class was complete. The triumph was Beisel’s first of the 2009 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit.
Fifth to show was Lauren Hunkin and Synergy Farm’s Larry 0146. The pair dropped a rail at the jump-off’s final obstacle to finish the class in seventh place. Next to show were David Jennings and his horse Marcus Aurelius. An unlucky rail down midway through the trip would result in a sixth place finish when the class was complete.
Seventh to go was Laura Linback and Woodrun’s Asdi Villagana. The pair would also drop a rail midway through the round and end the class in fifth place. Eighth in the order was Scott Lenkart and MacMillan SportHorse’s Impulsive. A single rail down on the jump-off course put the pair in fourth place.
Next to go was Texas’ Tracy Fenney and MTM Farm’s S & L Willie. Fenney, who won a pair of Grand Prix classes at HITS Ocala last week, would not be making the victory gallop on Sunday, after a pair of dropped rails would place them in tenth.
Sitting in the enviable last-to-go spot was Maryland’s Tracy Magness and Tarco Van Ter Moude. Magness has already been named the circuit’s Leading Grand Prix Rider as well the Catena Leading Lady Rider, thanks to four Grand Prix wins so far this circuit. The pair did their best to make it a fifth, going clean and fast in a time of 38.531, missing Beisel’s time by less than a second. Magness and Tarco Van Ter Moude would grab second and end the class.
When show jumping returns to HITS Ocala with the Ocala Winter Celebration, Magness will surely be one of the favorites in the $100,000 DeLuca Toyota Tundra Grand Prix, presented by Great American Insurance Group. Aaron Vale has won three of the last four $100,000 classes at HITS Ocala, so expect him to be in the money at the end of the day.
The Ocala Winter Celebration will also feature the $25,000 Team Barber Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper High and $15,000 Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Low Classics, as well as the $5,000 Adult Hunter Classic on Saturday night. The season closes out with the $25,000 Marshall & Sterling Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic and the Parade of Champions on Sunday- a prelude to the feature $100,000 Deluca Toyota Tundra Grand Prix, presented by Great American Insurance Group.