HITS Desert Circuit Enjoys Bounce

By Paula Parisi March 15, 2011

The HITS 2011 Dessert Circuit is one for the history books – qualifying West Coasters for the new $500,000 Diamond Mills Hunter Prix Final, offering jumper riders like Germany’s  Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum the chance to rack up points for the $1 Million Pfizer Grand Prix and catapulting 18-year-old Lucy Davis into orbit as a superstar.

“The high performance part of the show went really well,” HITS president and CEO Tom Struzzieri said, noting that “the other 90%” of the circuit (Jan. 25-March 13) was pretty terrific, too. “The hunters were so much stronger than they’ve been for the last few years. I think our $500,000 class at the end of the year has got people talking about the hunters.”

Hunterbrook Farms’ Nicolas Haness won two big classes, and said he’s thrilled to be shortlisted for the HITS Hunter Prix Final (sitting third in the standings as of this writing). “I look forward to traveling east with Catwalk for the final,” Haness said of his new ride, who got HITS off to a bang as the first blue ribbon mount in the first of Thermal’s six Devocoux Hunter Prix. Owner Pamela Stewart said she bought this horse with the sole purpose of qualifying for the Diamond Mills $500,000 3’3” Hunter Prix Final. “I am originally from New York and it would be extra special to go back and show there,” Stewart said. For his part, Haness called Catwalk “my favorite horse” and said “he’s very unique and he loves competition.”

Horses and riders found plenty of both at the California HITS show, which ran for six weeks through March 13 and marked the 20th Anniversary of the New York-based Horse Shows in the Sun’s From pony riders to Olympic athletes, there was excitement for everyone. “We built the facility with seven hunter rings, so to only use four or five some of the past few years had been disappointing. This year, we were using six many weeks,” with the jumpers simultaneously going in four rings. “From top to bottom, it was strong in the hunters, and the same with the jumpers. The high performance was there, but the beginners and everyone in between, too. So it worked out well for us. We were almost back to using our whole capacity” (of 12 rings).

Toward the end of the show the event was sold out, with a waiting list started in week five (DC V). “That is typically our biggest week, and it was again this year,” Struzzieri said, adding that everything from the stalls to the VIP seating in both the Oasis Club and the Charles Owen Club in the indoor arena to the classes and the paddocks were at full capacity.

“We elected to stop taking entries because we thought we had the right number of customers to take care of with the staff we had. We turned down a couple of hundred, at least,” he said, recalling that that had happened before in Indio, and in 2007 when the show relocated to nearby Thermal, but not since, “so it was a nice problem to have. Of course anybody who made their plans and got their entries in on time didn’t have an issue, and I think they appreciated the fact that we didn’t try to overload the horse show.”

Sanjay Bagai of Zeitgeist Equestrian, LLC in Petaluma, California, commended HITS’ technical director Brian Morris for his management of the facility “It’s incredible how he runs the crew, with no hesitation or confusion,” said Bagai, adding, “This is without a doubt the best footing in the country and the way he maintains it is second-to-none. My only disappointment is that we didn’t get to show for the whole circuit. We ended up selling some of our good horses and could only show the second half, but when we arrived, everything felt fresh as if the horse show had just started.”

Highlights of the Desert Circuit included Davis besting the field of 52 starters in the $200,000 Lamborghini Grand Prix of the Desert aboard Nemo 119 on March 13. Davis and four other talented pairs advanced to the short course to battle it out for the $60,000 first-place check.

“I could never believe this in a million years,” Davis said, after the class. “Some of the best riders in the world were competing here today,” she said of the final contest, sponsored by Lamborghini of Newport Beach. That Davis brought Nemo 119 along from a bucking bronc eliminated for refusals in DC II to the top performer in a hard-fought contest among top international riders by DC IV is a testament to her keen riding, savvy horse-choosing skills and the expertise of her training team: Gabriella Salick, Markus Beerbaum and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.

Olympic rider and three-time World Cup Champion Michaels-Beerbaum was last-to-go in the jump-off, and riding Kismet 50 had a chance to snag the victory away from her student, but the Germany-based superstar had to settle for fourth, with two rails down aboard a very promising new horse, purchased for her by her father, Richard Michaels.

Kirsten Coe and Kilkenny Randall Z took second in the Lamborghini class. Coe, who is originally from California and is now based in Connecticut, returned to her roots to get a leg up on qualifying for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix that will take place at HITS-on-the-Hudson on Sunday, Sept. 11. Coe scored $44,000 in prize money for her troubles, riding for SoCal equine sales agent Ilan Ferderer. With six of the eight HITS grand prix needed to qualify, Coe looks to be a lock to earn one of 40 coveted slots in the Pfizer Million Dollar stakes.

Indeed, with the addition of Michaels-Beerbaum and Coe, as well as East Coast grand prix riders Charlie Jayne and Kate Levy, attendees barely felt the absence of some of Thermal’s regular superstars – Ashlee Bond, Richard Spooner and Will Simpson, all of whom competed on the Palm Beach circuit in Florida this winter. Jayne scored a significant victory, taking blue in the $31,000 HITS Welcome Classic, presented Feb. 3 by Pfizer Animal Health.

Taking third in the Lamborghini Grand Prix was Rich Fellers of Oregon, aboard Flexible, owned by aboard Harry and Mollie Chapman. Fellers also earned the Platinum Performance Leading World Cup Rider Award for being the top finisher in the four FEI World Cup Qualifiers in Thermal (see related story). Jill Humphrey of Sacramento was fifth on Alicia Jonsson Foster’s Tao Tao 3.

Other noteworthy circuit victories for Davis included the $50,000 CSI-W grand prix aboard Nemo on March 5. That class offered the distinction of besting the largest starting field – 57 – of any HITS grand prix since 2007. Aboard her mare, Hannah, Davis won two $25,000 grand prix. Michaels-Beerbaum also got to enjoy time in the winner’s circle, when on Feb. 27 she rode Octavia Farms’ Lancaster 144 to two fast double-clear rounds and the blue ribbon in a $25,000 grand prix presented by Pfizer Animal Health. “It will be a day I’ll never forget,” said Michaels-Beerbaum after the class, which fell on her daughter Brianne’s first birthday.

In addition to the feed and pharmaceutical companies, and Lamborghini, Ferrari and Rolls Royce were also high-visibility at HITS, as was a stunning Pilatus Aircraft, which punctuated the grand finale weekend. “It’s been a few years since we’ve had aircraft on the grounds, so it was great that we got that category back,” Struzzieri said.
“As the place matures, it’s becoming more popular,” he added, explaining that plans are already afoot for next year’s Desert Circuit. “We’re planning lots of improvements to the grounds. I think people continue to notice the improvements we make every year mostly to landscaping and creature comforts. The goal is each year to make everyone’s stay more enjoyable.”

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