Ocala, FL- March 13, 2006- As the HITS Ocala circuit came to a close, the $100,000 Grand Prix of Ocala drew a large crowd to cheer on the thirty-eight entries that arrived to take on the challenge set by course designer Leopoldo Palacios-Jugo of Caracas, Venezuela. Artur 28, owned by Millstream Inc., and Aaron Vale proved to be the best as they captured the first place honors for the second year in a row.

For the third year in a row, Aaron Vale was named Grand Prix Circuit Champion. The trophy for the award is a solid gold ring presented by Equus Entries. The ring has a platinum horse and rider on the front with "Ocala" inscribed over the rider. In the middle of the "O" is a yellow diamond. Vale said, "These are the kinds of awards that you save for later in life. You look back on them for these memories. This is my Super Bowl ring."

The Grand Prix course set by Palacios had a triple obstacle at fence six that was an oxer to a wall to an oxer. He also had a double challenge at fence ten that was downhill with a vertical one stride to an oxer. The tallest fence on the course was the wall at fence four that measured five foot three inches. The time allowed was eighty-eight seconds. Out of the thirty-eight riders, eight made it to the jump-off, six had four faults, and twenty-four finished with greater than four faults.

Vale said of the course, "This was just more brilliant design from Leopoldo. The fences were high enough. There were rails down all around the course, not just one fence. The middle bar in the triple probably had the most hits. It was an honest course. You had options. You could do five or six strides to the triple; you could do five or six strides to the double. The course let riders make decisions. It didn't force you into something your horse couldn't do."

The jump-off set by Palacios was tight at first, but then included long gallops and sweeping turns. The time allowed was fifty seconds. Palacios commented, "This kind of jump-off is good for the crowd. It gets them involved; it gets them cheering."

First to attempt the jump-off were Artur 28 and Aaron Vale. This pair won the $100,000 Grand Prix last year and was hoping to make it a repeat performance. They made the required tight turn and flew around the rest of the course to the excited cheering of the crowd. They set the pace with a clear round and a time of 40.836.

Vale said, "The runs at the end of the course, the big half circle all the way around the end of the ring, that's kind of my horse's strength. He is very, very fast; he gallops. Right is his strong direction. I knew if I could snake my way through the beginning, he would leave the jumps up on the gallop. I hoped that would put pressure on everyone else."

Next in was Shandor 41, owned by the Shandor Syndicate and ridden by Patty Stovel of Woodstock, Connecticut. Unfortunately, the pair pulled a rail after the tight turn and caught rails after the gallop on the downhill 10 A-B combination and finished with twelve faults and a time of 45.193.

Campari, ridden and owned by David Wright of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, was the next in to challenge the jump-off. He too fell victim to the gallop downhill to the combination and pulled a rail at the 10A fence. Campari and Wright finished with four faults and a time of 42.538.

Picolien Zeldenrust and Frankie Chesler of Orangeville. Ontario, Canada, were next in for the shortened course. Picolien Zeldenrust is owned by Sher-Al Farms. The pair had two rails in the middle of the jump-off and finished with eight faults and a time of 46.483.

Aaron Vale brought in his second ride for the jump-off, Serval, owned by the Serval Group. Serval and Vale won the Thursday Grand Prix this week and the $50,000 HITS Ocala Duggan Equipment Grand Prix in week two of this year's circuit. Serval and Vale completed the jump-off successfully, again to a cheering crowd, and moved into second place currently with a time of 43.103.

Keean White brought Arriscraft Rocca, owned by Angelstone Farms & Randy White, into the arena for the jump-off. The pair successfully negotiated the beginning of the course and flew around the galloping part with the crowd urging them on. They crossed the timers and edged out Serval for second place with a time of 42.061.

Last in was local rider Kylee Jo Johnson on Landintendant, owned by Derek & Anita Petersen of Archer, Florida. Johnson is from Gainesville, Florida, and is currently studying for her Ph.D in Equine Nutrition. Although they had the fastest time, Johnson and Landintendant caught a rail and finished with four faults and a time of 40.800 seconds.

After his win, Vale said of Artur 28, "I'm still trying to figure out how to get him consistent. He had a beautiful first round. Jump-offs are his specialty. Almost every time he gets in, he wins. He's a big horse with a big stride. Although, we do better if we add strides." Laughing, he added, "I do better to collect him and add. It's taken me a long time to learn that!" He continued, "He's a very special horse. This is the first time we've had back-to-back wins."

Vale also said, "I'd like to tip my hat to Serval. He had a wonderful circuit. I have high hopes for him. He's really going well." Serval is an eleven year old Belgian horse that Vale purchased in Germany in December of 2005. He has won six Grand Prix events during the Ocala series.

Aaron Vale closed by saying, "I'd like to thank HITS for allowing us to jump for this kind of money. This is a fabulous circuit they put on for us."

The HITS V $100,000 Grand Prix was presented by the Great American Insurance Group. It is also a member of the United States Grand Prix League and the Marshall and Sterling League.

Official Results: $100,000 HITS Grand Prix Table A, Sec 2(a), Time First Jump-off

2. Arriscraft Rocca, Keean White, 0/0/42.061 Angelstone Farms & Randy White

3. Serval, Aaron Vale, 0/0/43.103 Serval Group

4. 747, Chuck Waters, 0/0/47.425 Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Waters

5. Landintendant, Kylee Jo Johnson, 0/4/40.800 Derek & Anita Petersen

6. Campari, David Wright,0/4/42.538 David Wright

7. Piclien Zeldenrust, Frankie Chesler, 0/8/46.483 Sher-Al Farms

8. Shandor 41, Patty Stovel, 0/12/45.193 Shandor Syndicate

9. Ludwig, Lexy Reed, 4/81.994 Lexy Reed

10. Kilpatrick,Tracy Magness,4/82.456 Tracy Magness

11. Allison, Callan Solem, 4/83.051 Quiet Winter Farm & BJ Maghan

12. Gun Du Desfi, Libby McKinney, 4/85.207 Libby McKinney & For Sure Partners