 |
HORSE SHOWS IN THE SUN
Scott Hofstetter and Karat Top Field of 45 to Win $50,000
Rio Vista Grand Prix at Ocala Winter Festival |
OCALA, FL (February 18, 2001)--Scott Hofstetter,
31, of Ocala, Florida, won the $50,000 Rio Vista Grand Prix at HITS Ocala II
Winter Festival in Florida, today, riding Karat owned by Ri-Arm Farm. A field
of 45 horses competed on the course designed by Ken Krome of Westminster,
Maryland. Tracy Bartko on Argus owned by Mr. and Mrs. John Bartko, was the only
other rider to jump a clean Round One, making the jump-off a two-horse
showdown. Hofstetter was first to go on the short course and cleared the
fences, but had three time faults, leaving the door wide open for Bartko, an
amateur rider from Waldorf, Maryland. Bartko was clear partway through the
short course, but chose to withdraw after the fourth fence when she had a rail
down, giving Hofstetter the win. Hofstetter took home $15,000 for Karat's
owner, Ri-Arm Farm of New Jersey. Bartko was awarded $11,000 for second place.
Olympians Lauren Hough on Windy City, Ian Millar on Ivar, and Jill Henselwood
on Toyz R Us, each had four faults finishing 7th, 8th, and 11th. "It was
my first Grand Prix win and it was in my hometown," said Hofstetter.
"It was awesome. There were probably 1,500 people here and they were all
screaming and clapping. They went crazy. It feels great. It was perfect."
Mr. Krome's 13-jump Round One course had
a double combination at Fence No. 7 and a triple at Fence No. 9 with Time
Allowed set at 91 seconds. The combinations proved to be the challenge that
dropped the majority of the riders out of contention--12 riders were unable to
clear the double and 25 riders tumbled elements of the triple. Going home, the
vertical at Fence No. 12 and the final oxer at Fence No. 13 each came down 16
times. Hofstetter was 18th in the order of go and had the first clear round in
89.181 seconds. Andre Thieme of Germany riding Aalsmeer's Enterprize for
Aalsmeer Farm was 26th in the order and jumped clean, but he received a
3/4-time fault, barring him from the jump-off. No one else in the field was
clear until the last rider, Bartko, who had a fault-free trip in 86.101
seconds. "Everyone thought there wasn't going to be a jump-off," said
Hofstetter. "I was a bundle of nerves for two hours."
In the Jump-Off Round, Mr. Krome set Time
Allowed at 51 seconds and built a short course of eight elements that did not
include any combinations. Hofstetter and Karat were first to go and jumped
clean, but at 53.761, the pair exceeded the Time Allowed and incurred three
time faults. Bartko on Argus followed and jumped the first three fences clean,
but had a rail at the fourth jump. Tipping her hat, she decided to save her
horse for another day and accepted second place.
Hofstetter said eight-time Canadian Olympian
Ian Millar advised him on his strategy for the jump-off. "Ian said, 'If
you want to win, you must leave the jumps up'. I thought I was going around
quickly, but I had the time faults. But it worked out perfectly because then
Tracy thought she had to go fast. She had a rail at the fourth jump and pulled
him up."
Hofstetter was the 1986 ASPCA Maclay Finals
winner, and the 1990 Leading Hunter Rider at Devon and the National. He has
been in charge of the Equitation and Junior Hunters at Don Stewart's Stables in
Ocala for eleven years and rode 28 hunters in competition during Week I of HITS
Ocala Winter Circuit this year. He has been training Karat, a 16.2-hand, white,
aged gelding from Europe, for only three weeks. Today's class was the second
Grand Prix competition for the duo. "I haven't ridden in a Grand Prix for
five of six years, so I don't know if it was that hard--I haven't been in that
many," said Hofstetter. "The last jump was like a mountain--the cups
were flat and it was very square. The horses were tired by then, but I don't
think the height was that big. The triple bar (Fence No. 11) to the
four-and-a-half stride was pretty wide. The time was tight. I thought it was a
hard course."
Millar also gets credit for getting Hofstetter
through the triple combination that tumbled for almost half the field.
Hofstetter said, "The triple combination walked on eight strides, so
people wanted it to be eight. It was oxer-vertical-oxer set very tight in two
strides. B to C was really tight and C was wide, so a lot of riders had that
last rail. You almost had to do it in nine strides. Ian told me that since my
horse has a big stride, I had to do it in nine. I asked him to help me, and he
did. He was very nice."
Hofstetter said that he will ride Karat in all of the Grand Prix classes for
the rest of the Ocala Circuit. "Now that I have some money, I can!"
he joked. Today's class was a qualifying
Grand Prix for the Cosequin® U.S. Grand Prix League Invitational Finals to
be held in Culpeper, Virginia, September 26-30,
2001.
$50,000 Rio Vista Grand Prix, February 18, 2001
HITS Ocala Winter Circuit II, Ocala, Florida
Course Designer: Kenny Krome
Place/Horse/Rider/Owner/Prize Money/Rd 1/Rd 2/Faults/J-O Time
1 Karat/Scott Hofstetter/Ri-Arm Farm/$15,000/0/3/53.761
2 Argus/Tracy Bartko/M/M John Bartko/$11,000/0/W
3 Aalsmeer's Enterprize/Andre Thieme/Aalsmeer Farm/$6,500/3/4 / NA
4 Jappaloe/Kim Burnette/Kimberden Farm/$4,000/1-1/4 / NA
5 Kick the Clouds/ Mary Lisa Nicholson-Leffler/ Mary Lisa Nicholson-Leffler
&
Rolling Acres Farm/4/NA
6Cable/Ian Silitch/Ian & Jacquelyn Silitch/$3,000/4/NA
7 Windy City/Lauren Hough/Peppercorn Ltd/$2,0004/NA
8 Ivar/Ian Millar/Millar Brooke Ltd/$2,000/4/NA
9 Elan Florestan/Aaron Vale/Elan Farms/$1,500/4/NA
10 Marco/Manuel Torres/Macondo Jumpers/$1,000/4/NA
11 Toyz R Us/Jill Henselwood/Jumiper Farms Ltd/$1,000/4/NA
12 Hanastasia/Frankie Chesler/Sher-Al Farms/$1,000/4/NA
Number of Horses who competed in this class: 45
Class Prize Money: $50,000 Show Jumping Action Continues at Ocala Winter
Circuit 2001:
Ocala Masters February 21-25
Ocala Tournament February 28-March 4
Ocala Winter Finals March 7-11
Featured Events:
$50,000 HITS Grand Prix Sunday, February 25 1pm
$50,000 Cosequin® Grand Prix Sunday, March 4 1pm
$50,000 East Meets West Hunter Challenge Sunday, March 11 11am
presented by The Chronicle of the Horse
$100,000 Grand Prix Sunday, March 112pm
presented by Great American Insurance
HITS GOLDEN HILLS INTERNATIONAL SHOW GROUNDS:
7500 Hwy. 27 West; Ocala,
Florida 34482; Directions: Interstate 75 to Ocala Exit for Rte. 27. Go west
to Golden Hills. Horse show entrance is three miles on the left. Telephone:
352.620.2275; website: www.HitsShows.com
 |
|
