Saugerties, NY - July 30, 2005 - David Raposa and Audi's Fanny De La Tour, the speedy 12-year-old mare owned by Shalamar Farm, galloped away with the blue ribbon in the $25,000 Open Jumper Challenge at HITS-on-the-Hudson V. Raposa bested a field of 30 horse/rider combinations over the course set by German course designer Olaf Petersen. Petersen was the course designer for the 2004 Athens Olympics and replicas of some of the signature jumps he designed for Athens can be seen in the Grand Prix arena at HITS-on-the-Hudson. David Raposa and Audi's Fanny De La Tour had no problems negotiating those jumps, winning the competition with a double-clear round in 30.85 seconds. Anne Kursinski and Roxana 112 took second place in the competition with a clear round in 31.10 seconds. Candice King and Caliskan took third place with another clear round in 31.95 seconds.

Olaf Petersen set a challenging 12-obstacle first round course that saw nine horses go clear. Anne Kursinski and Roxana 112 were the first pair to return for the jump-off. Kursinski went clear and fast, breaking the beam in a time to beat of 31.10 seconds. Magie Engle followed up with another clear round aboard Hidden Creek's Wapino. Engle finished her round with 33 seconds on the clock. Irish rider, Kevin Babbington, took his trip around the course with It's Morado. The pair had a four-fault performance in a time of 32.90 seconds. Kristi Smith and Jennieta had some rails come down to finish with a total of 16 faults in 34.23 seconds. Todd Minikus and Gardenio, winners of Sunday's $75,000 RV Sales of Broward Grand Prix, took their turn in the ring. Minikus guided Gardenio clear, but with a time of 32.50 seconds they were unable to top Anne Kursinski's round.

David Raposa and Audi's Fanny De La Tour were the next pair to canter into the ring. After two jumps, it was clear from the aggressive pace that Raposa was going all out to catch Anne Kursinski. "I got to see Anne's round and just got to hear the times for some of the others, so when I went in I was still thinking of Anne's round and just did my best to top her," commented David Raposa after his win. "Audi is a very fast mare and we had some nice turns, I didn't think anyone was going to be able to be a whole lot faster. If there was anything to save I think they would have had to take 6 strides instead of seven to the last."

Leslie Howard did come close to topping Raposa. She had a very fast round with Youp, besting Raposa's time by a sliver of four hundreds of a second, but a rail down at fence no. 10, a tall vertical, left her in sixth place. Candice King had the fifth and last clear round of the field with Caliskan. Her time of 31.95 seconds gave her third place. Rory Hovell and Quelle Damme Van De Heffinck got off to bad start with a refusal at the first obstacle, finishing with four jumping faults and ten time faults in a time of 51.01 seconds.

Sunday's $75,000 In The Woods Grand Prix is the next Grand Prix event at HITS-on-the-Hudson.

Kid's Day Saturday, July 30th, will bring fun and games to HITS-on-the-Hudson when kids of all ages and their parents are invited to enjoy a host of fun activities including, pony rides, face painting, seashell crafts, t-shirt painting courtesy of The Art Lab, and much, much more. Participating sponsor Purina Mills will add to the fun with the Purina Jeopardy Game. Kids will be tested on their equine knowledge for a ton of great prizes. Pepsi, the official soft drink of HITS-on-the-Hudson, will cool things down with a variety of soft drinks. All activities, excluding the pony rides, will take place under tent cover. The Kid's Day tent will be situated on a berm overlooking the Grand Prix arena. Children are encouraged to watch the show jumping classes, which start at 8am and go to 5pm. With ten rings to visit, there is lots to see and do for the entire day. Kid's Day is scheduled from 10am to 12 noon. Admission is $5 for adults, which is donated to the local charitable organization Family of Woodstock, Inc. Children 12 and under are admitted free. Parking is also free.

$25,000 Open Jumper Challenge
HITS-on-the-Hudson V - Saugerties, NY
Course Designer: Olaf Petersen, Germany