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Richard Spooner and
Southshore Win $150,000 Ford Grand Prix in Two-Horse Jump-Off at Indio Desert
Circuit |
INDIO, CA (March 11, 2001)--Richard Spooner riding
Southshore had the only double-clear on Conrad Homfeld's $150,000 Ford Grand
Prix course today at the Indio Desert Circuit in California, clinching his win
in the final event of the six-week circuit for the third year in a row. For
most of Round One, it looked like there wasn't going to be a jump-off. Only Hap
Hansen on Maloubet, the 20th rider in a field of 39, had a clear first round
until Spooner aboard Southshore--the last duo on course--went clean and forced
the two-horse jump-off. Hansen had the fastest time in the tiebreaker, but had
two rails down, earning second place and $33,000 for Maloubet's owner, Linda
Smith. For his first-place finish, Spooner was awarded two embroidered coolers,
an engraved silver tray, and $45,000 for Southshore's owner, El Dorado 29.
Spooner won six of the 12 Grand Prix classes contested at Indio this year.
"I'm batting 500. I won half the Grand Prixes. The funny thing is, before
the circuit started one of my staff asked me how many I was going to win and
jokingly I said six--then I ended up winning six. It's the most I've ever won
at Indio and it's the most I've ever won in a row."
Spooner, 31, of Burbank, California, also received the Indio Desert Circuit
Leading Grand Prix Rider Award for most points won in Grand Prix competition at
this year's circuit. Barbara Girgenti of Golden Horse Jewelry presented the
ring to Spooner after the victory lap. The "Super Bowl" ring of show
jumping is a custom-designed 18-carat gold ring with a sapphire center stone
surrounded by the words "Indio Desert Circuit" and studded with
diamonds.
The $150,000 Ford Grand Prix was the last qualifier on the West Coast for the
World Cup Final to be held April 12-16 in Goteborg, Sweden. Based on the four
best scores earned in a maximum of eight Grand Prix classes, the riders from
the West Coast League who qualified to compete at the World Cup Final are all
from California--Dick Carvin of La Canada, Ray Texel of Malibu, and Nicole
Shahinian-Simpson of Hidden Valley. These three riders all competed in today's
class, but their scores did not change their rankings for the Final. Spooner
was already out of contention for the World Cup and did not declare Southshore
as his World Cup horse for this event.
Course Designer Homfeld of Southampton, New York, was the course designer for
the World Cup Final last year in Las Vegas, but said that his $150,000 Ford
Grand Prix course was not a preparation track. "I'm not here to train
horses. The riders have to prepare themselves for the World Cup," said
Homfeld, adding that his priority was to create a course that reflected the
difficulty that a $150,000 class represents. "I like to have the course
end at a point that the crowd can appreciate what happens at the finish, and
fortunately, the design does work that way. It's liquid. I can change things at
the last moment if I see that it's necessary." For Round One, Homfeld
built a 14-jump course that included a double at Fence No. 4, another double at
Fence No. 8, water at Fence No. 13, and a third double at the last jump, No.
14. Time Allowed was set at 91 seconds. Five horses did not complete the
course. Hansen, who rode two horses in Round One, was clear on Maloubet in
88.62. Spooner--who rode four horses in this class--was clear on Southshore in
86.42.
"I thought Conrad had a great course," said Hansen, 49, of Encinitas,
California. "He caught a lot of different horses at a lot of different
places. It was technical and it was scopey. He did a very good job for the big
class at the end of our circuit." How did Hap feel when it looked like he
had the win without a jump-off? "I was feeling pretty darn good. That was
nice."
"The whole course was tricky," said Spooner, describing Round One.
"The last line was a killer. You had two large oxers--the first of which
was white rails--and then a liverpool underneath the oxer, and then you had
four or five strides to the next oxer, then very tight two-strides to a big
vertical--very airy right at the end of the course, so it wasn't so very
easy." How did he feel going in as the last rider on course against only
one clear? "The only pressure that you feel is pressure that you put on
yourself," said Spooner. "There is no other pressure, so you have to
just make sure that you maintain a cool head and just do your job out there. If
you ever feel a little bit of pressure then just get mean, don't get
nervous."
For the jump-off, Conrad built an eight-obstacle course that included a double
combination. Time Allowed was set at 53 seconds. Hansen was first to go and had
two rails down for a total of eight faults in 52.30. "My horse had sat for
quite a long time," said Hansen, adding, "and I knew Richard is
really fast, so I tried to go a little faster than I would have liked to. The
strategy didn't work just right." Hansen has won 91 Grand Prix classes in
his career--adding the 91st victory at this year's Indio when he won the
$25,000 Ariat Grand Prix on February 2.
Spooner was fault-free in the jump-off on Southshore in 52.74 seconds for the
win. He was in the warm-up ring with Hansen before the jump-off, and at the
in-gate for Hansen's ride on the short course. "I watched Hap go and that
made it easier," said Spooner. "He had two rails down and I knew then
that the key was having a nice brisk pace. Sometimes if you go in and you try
to dillydally around, the horse senses that something is up and doesn't perform
the way he should. So I still went in and gave it a crisp ride, a nice
gallop--although I swung out a little bit going into the combination so that I
didn't risk catastrophe. He jumped fantastic. Once I jumped the second to the
last jump, I knew my only enemy was the clock since Hap had eight faults, so I
went ahead and just ran to the last jump. Even if I had it down, it wouldn't
have mattered."
This is the fourth time that Richard Spooner has won the $150,000 class at
Indio. He won it in 1997 with Kirk, was fourth in 1998 aboard Cosino, he won it
with Robinson in 1999 and 2000, and now in 2001 with Southshore. "The
funny thing is, I've won the big class four out of the last five years, but I
haven't been the Leading Rider before," said Spooner. "Coming in here
I really wanted to be a Leading Rider. Last year I gave Robinson a lot of time
off because I wanted to keep him fresh. This year he felt so good in the
off-season that I went ahead and showed him in 10 of the 12 Grand Prix and he
won three." Spooner had accumulated so many points with Robinson,
Bradford, and Southshore, that he had already secured the Leading Rider title
before today's class started.
How does the big winner celebrate his best Indio Desert Circuit yet? "I'm
going to go and have a nice bottle of champagne, nice cigar, sit down and
relax," said Spooner, adding, "then load everything up tomorrow and
then week after next I'm off to Tampa for three weeks--so no rest for the
wicked."
Ford sponsored the $150,000 Grand Prix of the Desert for the second year in a
row. Rome Murphy, E-Commerce/Marketing Manager Ford Division, made the
presentation of the engraved silver tray in the awards ceremony. Murphy said
Ford is pleased with the response the sponsorship has generated. "We've
got a product that meets the needs of all the participants and exhibitors at
the equestrian events at the Indio horse show," said Murphy. "It's a
win-win for us and for anybody who comes by to check out our booth and our
products. We have ten trucks on display throughout the grounds. We've also got
an X650 Super Cruiser here that tows up to 30,000 pounds. We've already taken
orders for three of them." Murphy said Ford will be back at Indio in 2002.
"We'll have a refreshed line of Super Duty trucks. We're always upgrading
our product to meet the ever-increasing demand of the consumers. Their tastes
become more and more demanding every year, so we've got to be there to make
sure we meet those needs."
Today's class was also a qualifying Grand Prix for the Cosequin® U.S. Grand
Prix League Invitational Finals to be held in Culpeper, Virginia, September
26-30, 2001.
$150,000 FORD GRAND PRIX, March 11, 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 Southshore/Richard Spooner/Eldorado 29/$45,000/0/0/52.74
2 Maloubet/Hap Hansen/Linda I Smith/$33,000/0/8/52.30
3 Pershing/Ray Texel/Beverly Hills Equestrian Park LLC/$7,200/4/NA
3 Grace/Tracy Fenney/Hidden Lake Farm/$7,200/4/NA
3 Baccarat/Mary Tyng/China blue Farm/$7,200/4/NA
3 Robinson/Half Moon Bay Investment Group/$7,200/4/NA
3 Leoncuso/Sarah Baldwin/Brookwood Stables Inc/$7,200/4/NA
3 Bravo Delta/Ragan Roberts/Alex Dillard/$7,200/4/NA
3 Frisky IV/Dehlia Oeuvray/Charles Burrus/$7,200/4/NA
3 King Cavalier/Dehlia Oeuvray/Charles Burrus/$7,200/4/NA
3 Amos/Rich Fellers/Harry & Mollie Chapman/$7,200/4/NA
12 Fleur/Ray Texel/Beverly Hills Equestrian Park LLC/$900/8/NA
12 Eezy/Duncan McFarlane/Kathie Cheatham/$900/8/NA
12 Southern Jester/Mary Tyng/China Blue Farm/$900/8/NA
12 El Campeon's Cirka Z/Nicole Shahinian-Simpson/$900/8/NA
12 Kijoy Forever/Sarah Baldwin/Brookwood Stables/$900/8/NA
12 Jaguar/Hap Hansen/Linda Burke/$900/8/NA
12 Libra/Jenni Martin.Karim Ghaibi/$900/8/NA
12 Sam Malone/Debbie& Jim Burrows/$900/8/NA
Number of horses that competed in this class: 39
Class Prize Money: $150,000
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