OCALA, FL (February 12, 2010)–The opening $25,000 HITS Grand Prix of the AA-rated six-week HITS Ocala Winter Circuit was captured by none other than Laura Linback and As Di Villagana, reigning champs from the 2009 $100,000 DeLuca Toyota Tundra Grand Prix, presented by Great American Insurance Group.
Linback, of Mundelien, Illinois, was joined by 24 other riders who were looking to take home the blue in the rated season’s first Grand Prix. At the start of the class, all eyes were on Callan Solem and Allison who, during the pre-circuit, won back-to-back $25,000 HITS Grand Prix classes, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. The duo looked to continue their Grand Prix winning streak, but with seven faults in the first round they would have to settle for a 12th-place finish.
International Course Designer Leopoldo Palacios set a beautiful and challenging course that produced five riders for the jump-off.
The first of five to go in the jump-off was Andre Thieme of Germany, riding Aragon Rouet. Thieme unfortunately went off course, which left the four remaining riders a chance to take home the blue.
Texas native Tracy Fenney and MTM Timon were next in line and, thanks to a quick and clean round, set the Great American Time to beat at 46.428 seconds.
After Fenney set the Time to Beat, Michael McCormick of Flower Mound, Texas riding MTM Remington were looking to take the lead; however, they had a rail down on the second to last fence and had to settle for fourth place.
Ocala’s own Libby McKinney was next to go aboard Gus Du Desfi. The pair jumped clean in 48.041 seconds to secure third place.
Linback was last of five to show in the jump-off. Picking up right where they last left off, the pair raced through the course shaving just about three seconds off of Fenney’s time to take the lead with a time of 43.479 seconds and the check for $7,500.
“This was a great win for us,” said Linback. “We are very happy to be back in Ocala jumping outdoors after being inside for the past several months in Chicago. It was nice to get a win on the first real go of the season. As Di Villagana was spot on today, which was good because it was a competitive field. Tracy [Fenney] is hard to beat, so I just made sure to be forward and in a good position with poise. In the schooling ring I could tell my horse was feeling good and ready to take it. He likes the big ring here in Ocala. The footing was beautiful and the course was perfect.”
Linback now has three Grand Prix classes toward the eight needed to initially qualify for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix which will take place on September 12 at HITS-on-the-Hudson, in Saugerties, New York. She has planned a measured approach to the season and will show in each of the remaining Grand Prix classes at HITS Ocala. Linback and the rest of the High-Performance riders at HITS Ocala will have 11 more opportunities to qualify for the Pfizer Million, starting with Sunday’s $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.