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It's Five Grand Prix Wins
for Spooner at Indio--Robinson Wins His Third $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix of the
Circuit |
INDIO, CA (March 9, 2001)--Today was the last of
six $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix classes to be contested at this year's Indio
Desert Circuit, and Richard Spooner, 31, of Burbank, California, closed out his
Ariat tour by taking first place with Robinson and second place with
Southshore. Spooner won four of the six $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix competitions
this circuit--three with Robinson and one with Bradford owned by Tracey Kenly
and Kenly Farms. The win today brings Spooner's total Grand Prix victories at
Indio to five--he also won the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix with Southshore on
January 28. Spooner took home $7,500 for Robinson's owner, the Half Moon Bay
Investment Group and $5,000 for Southshore's owner, Eldorado 29.
Conrad Homfeld, of Southampton, New York, designed today's course for the field
of 43 entries. Homfeld, an Olympic Team Gold and Individual Silver Medallist,
is a three-time winner of American Horse Shows Association's Mr. & Mrs.
William C. Cox Memorial Trophy for Show Jumping Course Designer of the Year.
Homfeld describes his style of course design as 'balanced'. "There
shouldn't be one point on course that is the whole course," he explained,
adding that scope, technicality, height and width are all components that have
equal importance. For Round One, Homfeld built a 13-jump course that included a
double at Fence No. 3 and a triple at Fence No. 12. Time Allowed was set at 81
seconds. Ten horses had clear rounds and moved on to the jump-off. Three of the
clears were Spooner's and two were Nichole Shahinian-Simpson's.
For the tiebreaker, Homfeld built an eight-obstacle short course that ended
with a double combination. Time Allowed was 49 seconds. Spooner was first in
the order of go and was clean and fast with Southshore, setting the pace at
41.694. Tracy Fenney, 36, of Flower Mound, Texas, riding Grace, the duo that
won this class on February 23, were fifth on course and had the next fault-free
trip, but at 44.289, they couldn't beat the time and finished in third place,
taking home $3,500 for owner Hidden Lake Farm. Spooner and Robinson were next
to go and managed to beat Southshore's time by more than a second, clocking in
clean at 40.618 for the win. Eighth in the order was Nicole Shahinian-Simpson
riding El Campeon's Jo Jo who gave the leader a run for his money with a clear
round in 45.718, but had to settle for fourth place and $2,250 for owner El
Campeon Farms.
"First and second place, wow!" said Spooner. "Southshore was
blistering fast. At home I've been practicing doing two in the line and then
doing one in the line, doing one in the line and then two in the line. I did
that a lot this winter--worked on riding into a combination on a platform and
allowing that platform to set up the horse's gait inside the combination. I was
actually dying to try doing the one with Robinson. I knew that I could go as
fast as Southshore, maybe a little bit slower because I knew I had two seconds
to spare--obviously if you don't slow down before, in the middle, and after the
two-stride then that's a good two- or three-second advantage. That's how I won
it. Southshore was great but I let him do two in that last line. He's younger
than Robinson. He's a tremendously exceptional horse, but the experience of
having a horse that's 13 years old certainly helps out in that type of
situation. That was a fantastic course. It wasn't that big but it was technical
enough and the Time Allowed was tight so you had to hurry up--you couldn't
lollygag around."
Chris Corn, Ariat National Catalog Manager, was part of the awards ceremony and
presented Spooner with an engraved silver pitcher and an embroidered cooler.
"Ariat is very proud to sponsor the Grand Prix," said Corn.
"It's very exciting for us. It's a very exciting time for our company and
it's very nice to be associated with world-class riders and wonderful horses.
It's a wonderful opportunity for us to give back to the community for all the
support that they've given to us as a brand as well. We're just delighted to be
here."
JCR Sports Productions of Foothill Ranch, California, taped the $25,000 Ariat
Grand Prix. Airdates will be available at
www.tvshowjumping.com
$25,000 ARIAT GRAND PRIX, March 9, 2001
Indio Desert Circuit VI, Indio, California
Course Designer: Conrad Homfeld
Pl#/Horse/Rider/Owner/Prize Money/Rd 1/ Rd 2/Faults/J-O Time
1 Robinson/Richard Spooner/Half Moon Bay Investment Group/$7,500/0/0/40.618
2 Southshore/Richard Spooner/Eldorado 29/$5,000/0/0/41.69
3 Grace/Tracy Fenney/Hidden Lake Farm/$3,500/0/0/44.289
4 El Campeons Jo Jo /Nicole Shahinian-Simpson/El Campeon
Farms/$2,250/0/0/45.718
5 Frisky IV/Dehlia Oeuvray/Charles Burrus/$1,500/0/1/49.874
6 El Campeons Cirka Z/Nicole Shahinian Simpson/El Campeon
Farms/$1,125/0/4/45.034
7 Mr. Pacific/Molly Warmington/Molly Warmington/$875/0/8/42.839
8 Favre/Kyle King/ George & Kim Dixon & Kyle King/$725/0/12/48.119
9 Bravo Delta/Ragan Roberts/Alex Dillard/$650/0/15/51.975
10 Sunrise/Richard spooner/Douglas M White/$625/0/19/60.496
11 Careful 019/Kandi McCoy/Aspen Springs Ranch/$625/ 1/4 /NA
12 Bradford/Tracey Kenly & Kenly Farms/4625/4/NA
Number of horses who competed in this class: 43
Class Prize Money: $25,000
HITS Indio Desert Circuit 2001 Show Jumping Action Continues & FINAL
WEEKEND
Circuit VI March 7-11
Featured Events:
$50,000 East Meets West Hunter Challenge
Presented by The Chronicle of the Horse Sunday, March 11 8am
$150,000 Ford Grand Prix of the Desert Sunday, March 11 2pm
Special Day Events:
FIESTA DAY
Presented by Avis, Boys & Girls Club of Coachella
Valley, City of Indio, El Informador del Valle, Indio
International Tamale Festival, KUNA TV, La Quinta
Awards, and Valley Meat Markets Sunday, March 11 11am-1pm
Website: www.HitsShows.com
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