Hector Florentino wins his first HITS Grand Prix

Presentation to Hector Florentino
and Ultimo. BY ESI Photography

Hector Florentino debuted at HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties, New York and left his mark as he won the $100,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday, 8 June aboard Stransky’s Mission Farms Inc’s Ultimo.

He was the last rider in the class and topped four challengers in the jump-off to go double clear and win a pivotal qualifier for the Pfizer $1Million Grand Prix in September.

Ground held well
After a day of rain, the footing in the Strongid C 2X Stadium held up well under the conditions. Olaf Peterson Jr’s course featured 16 jumping efforts and included a double combination at fence four and a triple at fence eight, where four riders faulted.

The riders who joined Florentino in the jump-off included a talented line-up of Margie Engle (Ashland Farms’ Lord Spezi) Ali Wolff (John Wolff &  Blacklick Bend’s Lanoo), Darragh Kenny (North Run & Missy Clark’s Gael Force), and Todd Minikus (Pavarotti).

Jump-off
All riders in the second round finished within the 52 seconds allowed, but some encountered trouble in the repeat double at fence four. Engle had a rail down at the combination in the first go position of the jump-off and Wolff also picked up four jumping faults at the same fence. Wolff, however, posted a faster time than Engle in the jump-off at 44.097 seconds. In the third go spot, Kenny picked up four jumping faults at the sixth effort in 45.791 seconds, which pushed Engle to third.

Hector Florentino and Ultimo. By
ESI Photography

Minikus got the first clear go to keep Kenny from the top two, but dropped to second after Florentino’s faster trip. Engle ultimately finished in fifth, Kenny in fourth, Wolff in third and Minikus in second, just 0.745 seconds shy of Florentino.

Engle’s fifth-place finish was the capstone to a successful week at HITS-on-the-Hudson. She claimed victory in both the $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome and the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix with Lord Spezi on Friday.

“I really wanted to beat Margie,” said Florentino. “She’s one of the best and it’s not the same to just beat anyone.”

Happy winner
Coming off a successful show in Kentucky, Florentino was pleased with his first-ever performance at the HITS Saugerties show grounds.

“I really liked the courses this week,” he said. “They rode really nice with smooth turns and a lot of bending lines. I was worried about the doubel combination, but we came in good and we rode out good. Now we hope to be back in July and qualify [for the Pfizer Million].”

Minikus was the fourth rider to go in the jump-off and posted a time that Florentino could beat, giving him second.

“The rain was a factor, but the footing held and the horses were jumping well,” said Minikus. “Going into the jump-off, I was in the predicament of, ‘do I go clean or turn on the jet burners?’ I opted to do a nice quick-enough clean. It was important to me to do well in this class. I’ve been a Purina-sponsored rider since 2000 and we are very proud to be part of the Purina Team.”

Bonus win
As if $30,000 in prize money wasn't enough, Florentino won big twice on Sunday.

Because he and the team at Stransky's Mission Farms Inc give their horses Purina Mills, they won 2,000 lbs of feed, as part of a "win a ton" rider incentive program sponsored by Purina Mills, the official feed of HITS Horse Shows.


For full results from the show, click here