OCALA, Fla.--After winning Friday’s $25,000 on Dana De Kerglenn, Hunter Holloway returned on Sunday, Feb. 26 to win the $75,000 Grand Prix on Eastern Jam over 30 competitors at HITS Ocala.
Hunter Holloway on Eastern Jam (Photo by ESI Photography)She beat New Zealand Olympian Sharn Wordley on Mick Jagger by half a second during the nine-horse jump-off.
The only other clean in the jump-off was by Australia's Rowan Willis on Cornet's Girlensky to place third.
“Eastern Jam is a seasoned horse of mine, I've had him for a really long time,” said Holloway. “We have a really strong partnership, so I knew I could rely on him to go get it. We have gotten to grow up together and jump some big classes together. He's just the sweetest horse. I put my grandma on him and he will walk around with her. That just perfectly describes him."
Willis was the first to go clean in the jump-off, finishing in 40.336 seconds, which would hold up for third place.
One round later, Wordley on Mick Jagger was clean in 38.847 to go into the lead.
Two rounds later though, the lead changed hands once again.
LEAVING a stride out to the combination and a fast gallop down the final line gave Holloway and Eastern Jam a very small margin, finishing in 38.224 seconds, half a second ahead of Wordley, to claim the winning title.
“I did eight strides to the combination, which was pretty bold,” said Holloway. “Eastern Jam was very smart and got out of the way. Then I was able to keep the hammer down a little bit towards the last couple of jumps, and he was really good.”
“In general, he is a bigger, slower horse, so it's hard to find places to make up time," she said. "It was a bit of a risk doing the eight, but he's seasoned and is plenty capable of doing it, and I just trusted him there and he took care of it.”
Holloway has been competing at HITS for many years and credits the new footing for the faster jump-offs this season.
“The footing's great and it allows us to ride fast jump-offs like we did today,” she said. “The footing holds up and we're able to keep going and put in some top rounds that are equal to any other top facility in the United States.”
Holloway on Dana De Kerglenn won Friday’s $25,000 Grand Prix.
Tiffany Hammack on Ghana FS Z was just half a second behind Holloway as the last to return and placed second place, while Germany’s Andre Thieme on Magic Hoop was third.
“Dana has been so fun to bring along,” said Holloway. “She’s such a game horse and always happy to come out and do her job, and really ready to attack the course each day. She is always fast and I was able to able to really go forward on her today.”
