John French and Small Affair trumped a field of 38 to take the blue in the $25,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix that capped the 2012 HITS Desert Circuit. It was a contentious battle, and at the end of the Sunday, March 11, class only three names dominated the top seven slots, with French sitting atop with […]
Chris Pratt cruised into the winners circle, taking the blue in the HITS $200,000 Lamborghini Grand Prix March 11, and, two days earlier the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, riding Indigo Farms, LLC’s Cruise. It was a spectacular end to the 2012 HITS Desert Circuit for the Canadian jumper, who collected a $60,000 check for his […]
Karl Cook and Uno de Laubry provided a climactic end to HITS Thermal’s four-class World Cup Qualifier series on March 3, nabbing the blue ribbon as the fastest of the four-faulters in a contest in which there were no double clears. The 15-effort course for the $53,000 Chartis Grand Prix CSI-W was designed by Marina […]
The first half of the HITS Desert Circuit was dominated by Outwoods Farm, the Castro Valley, CA-based sales and training outfit run by Helen McNaught and Duncan McFarlane. With McNaught riding Caballo and Lariccello, and McFarlane aboard Mr. Whoopy, the duo amassed a total of 13 placings over the course of eight grand prix over […]
Canadian Olympic Silver Medalist Jill Henselwood is hoping a great performance on the HITS Desert Circuit will help her and IV Ever get the attention of her nation’s Olympic selectors, and she solidified her position on Feb. 9, adding the $32,000 HITS Desert Classic to her prize list. She also won the first grand prix […]
A second Southern California region went on high alert for EHV-1 on Jan. 20 when a diseased horse was identified at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Riverside County. The horse ― which displayed neurological signs of the Equine Herpes Virus 1 ― was euthanized on Jan. 23 after testing positive and the facility was […]
John Bragg lived up to his name and earned boasting rights at HITS, winning the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Feb. 5 with a pair of scores in the 90s aboard Castle Hill. Bragg, of Redwood City, CA, runs Bridgeport Farms. He rose to the top in a class of nearly 60 horse-and-rider combinations, over […]
Rich Fellers got off to a great start on the HITS Desert Circuit, winning the $32,000 HITS Desert Classic on Colgan Cruise, the youngest of three grand prix horses he brought to Thermal. “She is a young, up-and-coming grand prix horse and I wasn’t expecting much before the circuit started, but I guess I […]
In an amazing comeback, Helen McNaught won the second grand prix of the HITS Desert Circuit, piloting Lariccello to the blue in the $50,000 EMO class on Sunday, Jan. 29. McNaught ruptured a neck vertebrae late last year during a schooling incident at her Outwoods Farms, based in Castro Valley, CA. “This is my first […]
Kate Considine and Caretano took top honors at the first major hunter test of the 2012 HITS Desert Circuit season, winning the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Sunday, Jan. 29. A trainer at the Lakeview Terrace-based Willowbrook Stables, Considine topped the field of 39 starters, riding for Hannah Goodson-Cutt, now studying t at Georgetown University. […]
