Canadian John Pearce rode Archie Bunker, owned by Forestview Farms of Stouffville, Ontario, to win the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar an AGA Event with a sell out crowd of 4,000 packed into the Del Mar Arena. Pearce beat a field of thirty riders narrowed down from fifty-three over two nights of qualifiers.
A dynamic course set by designer Anthony D’Ambrosio, of Red Hook, NY, proved tough to ride without faults under the time allowed of 85 seconds. Pearce rode the course clean and won with two time faults and a time of 86.69. His mount, Archie Bunker, is an 8 year old Oldenburg who’s “Very brave, with a lot of desire to leave the jump up,” said Pearce, who found the horse in Germany three years ago. Pearce had two horses in the Grand Prix but tumbled off his second mount while trying to best his own score and was excused along with four others who didn’t finish rounds.
Mandy Porter rode Summer, owned by Wild Turkey Farm, Redwood City, CA, into second place with four faults and a time of 81.95. Richard Spooner rode Live Fire, owned by C & S Partnership LLC of Pebble Beach, CA, to place third with four faults and a time of 83.287.
The only other clean go besides Pearce was ridden by Eddie Macken on Lexicon, owned by Beverly Hills Equestrian Partners of Simi Valley, CA, finishing with four time faults and a time of 88.250 for sixth place.
D’Ambrosio commented “I’m surprised I didn’t have five clean for a jump off as it wasn’t really difficult or meant to be overly difficult. When the riders walked the course it didn’t walk like it was going to be the challenge it was, and some asked ‘Where’s the trick, where’s the surprise?’ It was just a technical course with lots of room to get to the triple and a lot of room to start and nothing really unexpected. However, it rode quite unexpected and I think it’s because some of the horses were greener, that, and riding in this arena with the enormous crowd stimulation. But really I’m surprised.”
Sharn Wordley, winner of the $25,000 Surfside Grand Prix Qualifier and Fred Sims Perpetual Trophy said the Grand Prix course was, “Quite technical with the triple combination along the wall as it’s quite big going in, and, a bit tough coming out.”
Susan Artes, winner of the $10,000 Ralphs Power and Speed said, “Walking it, it didn’t look that complicated but I also know that D’Ambrosio is very good like that because everybody walks it and you can’t really tell. My horse was very nervous because of the intensity of the crowd and he’s never gone before such a huge crowd with that energy level. I think the Del Mar National is the best to watch, compete in, has the most energetic crowd, the best venue, the jumps are incredible, and it feels like a world class event. And last night we signed autographs until almost 11:30 p.m. and it was great to have all the riders there.
Hunter/jumper division manager Dale Harvey commented, “It was a sell-out crowd and though it was a big track and very difficult and unfortunate with no jump off, it was very exciting and the crowd loved it.” Harvey added, “It’s been a big success - and even on Friday night we had $50,000 prize money in one night which is pretty unheard of for equitation and hunters”, offered in the $25,000 Del Mar National Open Equitation Championship presented by Show Circuit Magazine, and the new $25,000 Dearborn Open Hunter Classic presented by Stacie Siebel. Harvey continued, “In the $25,000 Open Equitation Championship it was the biggest field we ever had, starting with 53 in the first round. It was the first time we held the $25,000 Open Hunter Classic and it was outstanding – we had 25 in the initial round and it was a really exciting class. They jumped incredibly well under the lights which was remarkable as they had never jumped in there before. There’s no other class like this one in California. “
The $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar is a member event of the AGA Grand Prix Series of Show Jumping and is a televised broadcast aired on June 10th on Fox Sports New York at 8 a.m. and Fox Sports West at 9 a.m. PST, check local listings for details.
For complete results of the 61st Annual Del Mar National Horse Show, visit www.delmarnational.com, or call the Equestrian Office at (858) 792-4288.
61st Annual Del Mar National Horse Show - May 2-7, 2006
Class 100 - $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar Table II (a) - 30 entries
Place Number Horse Owner Rider
1 658 Archie Bunker Forestview Farms John Pearce
2 520 Summer Wild Turkey Farm Mandy Porter
3 721 Live Fire C & S Partnership, LLC Richard Spooner
4 487 V De Pomme Van Gysel / Glasscock Jenni Martin
5 234 Oberon 48 Bay Rose LLC / Guy Thomas Guy Thomas
6 796 Lexicon Beverly Hills Equestrian Partners Eddie Macken
7 513 Proficiat Woodgrove Farm And Royal Diamond Spo Guillermo Obligado
8 121 Presto B Alix Fargo Susan Artes
9 838 Alias Helen Mc Naught Helen Mc Naught
10 862 Shiraz Mary Dunahay Paul Rohrbach
11 780 Double Dutch Horizons East Dev’p Grp Hap Hansen
12 560 A.W. Butterfly Hula Leslie Steele Leslie Steele
Way to go JP. Three GP horses ramping up for the big leagues, with Archie showing us what you knew was there. The hard work is paying off!!
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