Jill Henselwood had a little chat with her horse Black Ice before the $150,000 Grand Prix of the Desert, the Grand Finale of six weeks of show jumping at the HITS Indio Desert Circuit.
The Canadian rider wanted to take her mount with her to Europe in preparation for April’s World Cup. But the catch was Black Ice needed to pay his own way for a trip that would cost nearly $60,000 in airfare and oats.
Needless to say, after Henselwood’s first place finish concluding the 2006 Indio Desert Circuit, Black Ice will be earning some frequent flyer miles.
“I told him this morning that we needed to get at least a top 10 finish today,” said Henselwood. “Realistically we probably needed to come in fourth but that was too much pressure.”
It was the only clear round of the day as 38 other riders had at least one time fault on course designer Conrad Homfeld’s route leaving no need for a jump off.
“When I looked back and saw I was clear I thought holy hoopla,” she said.
Henselwood saw 27 previous mounts take down rails, so when she went clear it was even more remarkable. In fact, when she won the Henselwood clan led a raucous celebration at the ingate led by her groom Rachel Clamp. They serenaded her with praise as she passed by to collect her blue ribbon. Henselwood even sipped champagne as various media members interviewed her.
A fellow countryman John Pearce was second as a time fault was Archie Bunker’s lone blemish. Pearce added $33,000 to his total making it $120,000 in six weeks on the 2006 Indio Desert Circuit. Golden Horse Jewelry presented him with a diamond ring for being the leading grand prix rider. He won the same award in 1998.
Pearce won three of the 12 grand prix’s on the circuit and also grabbed the red ribbon three times.
The Indio Desert Circuit’s all-time leading money winner Richard Spooner was third aboard Ezrah. Rich Fellers, the winner of Friday’s $30,000 Ariat Grand Prix, was fourth aboard McGuinness.
Winning her first grand prix ribbon and picking up fifth place was Florida native Keri Kampsen. In fact, she was so new to the winner’s circle, she didn’t know how Ratina 79 would react to wearing a pink ribbon.
The $150,000 Grand Prix of the Desert was the fourth and final world cup qualifier on the 2006 Indio Desert Circuit. Current points leader Richard Spooner will add to his 14 point lead over Rich Fellers for the top spot. Joie Gatlin finished out of the money but will remain third. The fourth and final spot is up for grabs with a handful of riders still holding onto a chance to compete in April’s World Cup in Malaysia.
Other major award winners at HITS Indio VI included:
HBO Children’s Medal - Sage Flynn, Rancho Sante Fe, CA
HBO Junior Medal - Hillary Neff, Los Angeles,
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