OCALA, FL.—It was a sweet homecoming. After a two-week layoff, Sergio Campos’ exceptional homebred mare Shakira do Jacare returned for Sunday’s closing Grand Prix of the HITS Ocala Tournament. Not coincidentally, she ended the afternoon back in the winner circle. The horse and rider team, who both hail from Brazil, captured the $50,000 Iron Springs Farm Grand Prix, presented by Sag Harbor Realtors, held March 11 at HITS’ Post Time Farm in Ocala, Fl. It was Campos’ 4th Grand Prix victory of the circuit.
The breather was a deliberate strategy. After his horse Cognac do Jacare was injured two weeks ago, Shakira became “the only horse that I was counting on to show in the $100,00 Grand Prix,” said Campos, referring to the final HITS event coming March 18, “so I decided to give her a little break. She came back fresh—not hot, just rested. And it helped.”
Designed by Danny Foster, Sunday’s course was, according Campos, among the most challenging of the HITS circuit. “It was very technical, “ said Campos. “The triple was really hard and that’s where everyone was having rails. But the whole course was tough. You really couldn’t take a breath anywhere.” Consequently, only three of 40 competitors went clean, including Campos and his second mount, the Rae Kennedy owned Zizou, and Chuck Waters aboard his horse 747.
Given the difficulty of the course, timing, it seems, was everything. Campos and Zizou were 11th on course and the first go clean. Shakira, meanwhile, was 28th in the order of go. The positioning combined with a previous ride, gave the team a distinctive leg up. “I had an early ride on Zizou and we were successful, that helped a lot, so I knew what to do with Shakira,” the rider noted. When the swift jump off concluded, Campos with a 4-fault round and a time of 36.681 had captured 1st place with Waters nabbing 2nd and Campos and Zizou taking 3rd.
In addition to this being Campos’ 4th Grand Prix victory of the Ocala meet, the win also moves him one step closer to the title of circuit champion. Campos is back in the top spot, which was held by Tracy Magness after her victory aboard Tarco Van der Moude last week. With the $100,000 Grand Prix prize as well as the circuit championship within reach, Campos, says “we’re all very excited for next week.”
Campos’ Longwood Equestrian Center, located outside of Orlando, has more than 50 horses in training, including 20 horses in the United States and 30 more in a breeding program in the athlete’s native Brazil.
Flashpoint Media Services, based in Harrodsburg, KY is a comprehensive public relations firm specializing in the equestrian sports. For additional information contact Cindy Grisolia at (347) 423- 7322, [email protected] or Robbi Meisel (859) 734-3713, [email protected]
###
You must be logged in to post a comment.