 |
Aaron
Vale Nails Fourth Grand Prix At HITS Ocala In $50,000 Kings
Shavings Grand Prix |
OCALA, FL (March 8, 2004)—Aaron Vale looks like he is set on
a course to top his own record. The talented Grand Prix rider, who
holds the record for the most Grand Prix wins in a single year, has
captured his fourth Grand Prix victory at HITS Ocala with Sunday's
$50,000 King Shavings Grand Prix. A technical first round course reduced
the field of thirty-five starters to only two riders—Vale who
originally hails from Texas, and Canadian show-jumping legend Ian
Millar. The exciting two-horse jump-off saw both riders go clear,
but Vale snatched the win when he tipped the timers over three seconds
faster than his esteemed rival.
Vale's
winning mount was Cortino, owned by Town Creek Investment. He also
placed four other horses in the money—fourth with Quendo, fifth
with Pop Socks, seventh with Romulus, and eleventh with Solitude's
Jas. Aaron Vale's total winnings in the competition amounted to
$25,000. Ian Millar picked up $11,000 for placing second aboard
Sweet Dreams, owned by Scotia Farms. Millar is competing in the
Grand Prix ring at HITS Ocala with his son, Jonathon, and daughter,
Amy. Jonathon placed 12th in Sunday's competition aboard Karat.
Course
designer, Danny Foster of Georgetown, Ontario, set a challenging
first round course. The time allowed was originally set at 96 seconds,
but was adjusted to 100 seconds after the first three riders failed
to complete within the time allowed. Despite the adjustment the
time was still tight, and required a bit of galloping between fences
to avoid incurring time faults.
The
trickiest part of the course came near the end, at fences 8, 9A-B,
and 10. This was the line going away from home that consisted of
a triple bar that, while not very tall, was very wide, then a short
four strides to the vertical - vertical in-and-out, then on to another
wide oxer. This in-and-out was tricky in itself, with the A element
being an airy vertical with a Liverpool underneath, to the B element
which was a solid panel. This was both a visual test and a distance
test, as the short four-stride distance after the triple bar required
riders to shorten their horse's stride immediately to have enough
room jumping into the in-and-out. It was a difficult test, as Fence
9A came down 23 times during the class.
Aaron
Vale's winning horse, Cortino, did not show earlier in the week,
Vale deciding rather to practice flatwork and gymnastics exercises
with this 8 year-old bay gelding that came from Germany last November.
"I remembered a great gymnastic that Tim Grubb taught me a
while back, so I just practiced that all week. I think when we jumped
into the in-and-out line, he (Cortino) just remembered that gymnastic
and that's why he came back so readily and was able to jump the
in-and-out clean."
Foster
shortened the course to eight obstacles for the jump-off. Ian Millar
went first. "It was most important to jump clean, and less
important to be fast," said Millar. "So I tried to be
neat and tidy with my turns to at least post a challenging enough
time for Aaron coming behind me." Millar and Sweet Dreams kept
up a quick pace, finishing in 53.29 seconds. Vale had a definite
advantage getting to watch Millar take to the jump-off course first.
Vale knew that Millar had won a very fast class earlier in the week
on Sweet Dreams, and knew he would have to be quick to catch Ian's
time. "My horse has a long smooth stride and really covers
the ground well. I figured that if I just followed the same path
as Ian, I could still be faster," said Vale. "The ring
was freshly dragged before the jump-off, so I could see the hoofprints
of Ian's horse. I just followed right in his tracks."
Vale's
horse had a stumble early in the course that might have slowed him
down a bit, but he made up for it with an aggressive gallop on the
long approach to the last jump in front of the grandstand. "The
last jump was a pretty big, wide oxer, but it had a little set of
walls in front of it which allowed you to gallop to it without worrying
too much. And I didn't know if I was as fast on the rest of the
course as I thought I was, so I wanted to be sure!" Vale powered
past the timers in 50.08 seconds, a full three seconds ahead of
Ian Millar's time.
Other
major award winners at Ocala Tournament IV included:
Bayer Legend Leading Hunter Rider - Jennifer Alfano, Buffalo, NY
Bayer Legend Leading Jumper Rider - Aaron Vale, Aiken, SC
Charles Owen Adult Medal - Stephanie Britton-Black, Oviedo, FL
Charles Owen Children's Medal - Caitlin Henry, Longwood, FL
HBO Junior Medal - Kacey McCann, Palmyra, PA
Jennifer
Alfano of Buffalo, New York, is having an outstanding circuit at
HITS Ocala. Jennifer was presented with her third Bayer Legend Leading
Hunter Rider award—an award that is presented to the winningest
hunter rider at the close of each week during the circuit.
Aaron
Vale was been presented with the Bayer Legend Leading Jumper Rider
award for the fourth week in a row. Aaron is also a sure bet for
the Equus Entries Leading Grand Prix Rider award. With a total of
96 points in the standings, Vale can't be beat. Harold Chopping
is next in the ranking with 40 points. When named at the close of
the circuit, the Equus Entries Leading Grand Prix Rider will take
home a beautiful "Super Bowl" ring inlaid with precious
stones courtesy of Equus Entries.
The
next Grand Prix event at HITS Ocala—the $25,000 HITS Grand
Prix will take place on Thursday, March 11th. On Sunday, March 14th,
spectators will enjoy world-class show jumping competition as riders
compete for top honors in the Grand Finale of the circuit, the $100,000
HITS Grand Prix.
For
more information on the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, please visit
www.hitsshows.com.
Aaron Vale and Cortino - Winners of $50,000 King Shavings Grand
Prix
Also in picture - Kristen Vale (Aaron's sister, far left) and two
members of HITS Ocala charity beneficiary - Take Stock in Children
© 2004 Lili Weik Photography
Aaron Vale and Cortino © 2004 Lili Weik Photography
$50,000 King Shavings Grand Prix - Sunday, March 7, 2004
HITS Ocala IV - Ocala, FL
Course Designer: Danny Foster, Georgetown, Ontario
Place
Horse Rider Owner Prize Money Rd1 Faults JO Faults JO Time
1st Cortino Aaron Vale Town Creek Investment $15,000 0 0 50.08
2nd Sweet Dreams Ian Millar Scotia Farms $11,000 0 0 53.29
3rd Marly Du Beaumont Kim Burnette Kimberden Farm $6,500 3
4th Quendo Aaron Vale Town Creek Investment $4,000 4
5th Pop Socks Aaron Vale Temecula Valley Equestrian Center $3,000
4
6th Landor Jay Hayes North Ridge / Uplands Farm $2,500 4
7th Romulus Aaron Vale Town Creek Investment $2,000 4
8th Promised Land Derek Petersen Derek / Anita Peterson $1,500 8
9th Eldor 7 Hajo Giebel AGB Eldor LLC $1,500 8
10th Lebora Tracy Bartko Magness M / M John Bartko $1,000 8
11th Solitude's Jas Aaron Vale Solitude Farm $1,000 8
12th Karat Jonathon Millar Millar Brooke Ltd $1,000 8
WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY, 2004 REMAINING SHOW DATES ARE:
Ocala Winter Finals V - March 10-14
FEATURED
EVENTS:
$25,000 HITS Grand Prix - Thursday, March 11 at 1:00pm
$25,000 Marshall & Sterling Junior / Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic
- Sunday, March 14 at 10:00am
$25,000 Marshall & Sterling Child / Adult Jumper Classic Sunday,
March 14 at 12:00 noon
$100,000 King Shavings Grand Prix of Ocala presented by Great American
Insurance Group - Sunday, March 14 at 2:00pm
SPECIAL
EVENTS:
Grand Finale - Sunday, March 14
Champions of the Week Presentations are held on Sundays prior to
the 1:00pm Grand Prix.
POST
TIME FARM: 13710 U.S. Hwy 27; Ocala, Florida 34482; Tel: 352-620-2275.
Website: www.HitsShows.com
.
|
