British Columbia Equine ...On-Line News: Jumpin' Johnny! Canadian Olympian John Pearce wins the $50,000 Purina Mills CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health at HITS Thermal

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Jumpin' Johnny! Canadian Olympian John Pearce wins the $50,000 Purina Mills CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health at HITS Thermal

February 28, 2010

THERMAL, CA --- All signs on the road map to the Pfizer Million are starting to point right to HITS Saugerties for Canadian Olympian John Pearce.

Pearce put on quite a show for a packed indoor arena at the HITS Desert Horse Park, in Thermal, California on Saturday night. Riding Forest View Farm's Chianto, Pearce beat out the 22 other starters to challenge International Course Designer Bernardo Cabral's first-round track and the eight that advanced to the jump-off in the $50,000 Purina Mills CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.

Pearce has risen to the height of the occasion during the biggest events of the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit. During Desert Circuit III, he won the blue aboard Gerald Moore/Forest View Farm Inc.’s Son of A Gun in the $50,000 HITS CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, making Saturday night’s victory his second World Cup Qualifier win of the season. Pearce also continues to lead the Royal Champion Leading World Cup Rider standings aboard Son of a Gun.

With the victory, Pearce earned another qualifying class in the chase for the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix . In fact, Pearce has competed in the eight Grand Prix classes needed to make the initial qualification for the Pfizer Million. With multiple horses in his arsenal and six remaining Grand Prix qualifiers left at HITS Thermal, including the monstrous $300,000 Lamborghini Grand Prix of the Desert, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday, March 14, he has every opportunity to cement his place at the historic event by the end of the six-week circuit.

"What an opportunity Saugerties is going to be," said Pearce. "If I keep winning, we will get qualified and be there."

The Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix takes place on September 12 in Saugerties, New York. Currently, several riders from HITS Thermal are near the top in the preliminary Pfizer Million Standings, including Canadian Olympian John Anderson.

In Saturday's main event, Karen Cudmore rode Blair Cudmore's Ulano to kick off the eight-obstacle jump-off round. The pair took a careful approach to the track and came home clear in 41.41 to set the Great American Time to Beat. When the class was complete, they finished in third place.

Next to show was Pearce and Forest View Farm's Chianto . They were fast and clean coming home all the way clear in 37.17 to shatter Cudmore's time by more than four seconds, setting a pace that proved to be too fast for the others still left to show. "My two inside turns clinched it for me," said Pearce. "I had a great feeling about not touching any fences tonight."

Third to go in the jump-off was Helen McNaught riding Caballo . The pair entered the ring fresh off of a second-place finish in Thursday's $25,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. In Saturday's big event, they had two rails down to land in eighth place.

Youngster Stephanie Saperstein on El Sueno's Quanto VL was fourth to show in the jump-off and they also went clean but 42.17 was not enough to catch Pearce, so they had to settle for fourth place. Sarah Ballou aboard Shannondale Truman was fifth in the order. This pair was fast and clean, making a run at Pearce's lightning-quick time, but crossed the timers in 39.91 to finish in second place.

Sixth to challenge the jump-off track was Canadian Olympian John Anderson riding Foxdale Farm's Terrific . Anderson and his horse have two wins in the bag already this circuit, but couldn't make it three when they had an early rail to finish in sixth place.

New Jersey's Michelle Spadone and Morgan Hill Partners' Melisimo were next to go and dropped the first rail on the jump-off track to finish in seventh place. Tani Zeidler held the enviable last-to-go spot and traveled the course carefully when she jumped clean in 42.85 to finish in fifth place aboard Ziedler Farm's Loving Dancer .

"I am very happy with the eight that went clean," said Cabral. "It wasn't a terribly tricky field, but there were two verticals that were 5'3" and I was impressed with how the riders handled the course."

Show Jumping at HITS Thermal continues today and features another qualifier for the Pfizer Million when the $25,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, takes center stage in the Grand Prix ring. Fiesta Day also returns to the HITS Desert Horse Park from noon until 2 pm today. This year's event salutes the Hispanic heritage in the Coachella Valley with a day of family fun that includes music, dancing and delicious Mexican food.

Hollywood trick rider and roper, Ramon Becerra, will be the headline performer. Additional, fun family activities include a Pony Petting Zoo, Paint Your Own Horseshoe, Arts & Crafts, Bounce House and Inflatable Slide, and more!

Guest of honor, Dr. Raul Ruiz, was born in Coachella and funded his way to UCLA, thanks in large part to the community that stood behind him. He then moved on to Harvard Medical School. After his medical studies, he returned home to his roots and fulfilled a promise to the community that supported him by working in the Emergency Room at Eisenhower Medical Center in La Quinta. Gate proceeds benefit the Jenkins-Penn Haitian Support Organization where Dr. Ruiz is a Medical Doctor.

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