PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
January 23, 2006

OCALA, FL (January 23, 2006) -- Brazilian rider Sergio Campos dominated the field during the first of seven weeks of show jumping competition at the 2006 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit. Campos raced to victory in Sunday's $25,000 Grand Prix with his lightning-fast nine-year-old mare Shakira Do Jacare. This was Campos' second win of the week aboard Shakira, the pair also won Friday's $15,000 Mini Prix. In both competitions Campos edged out Aaron Vale to snatch the win. Clocking in with a faster time than Aaron Vale was a personal triumph for Sergio Campos. "In my opinion he is the best American rider, so for me it's an honor to win when he's in the class."

Sergio Campos was a successful junior rider in his native Brazil. He went on to carve out a successful career as a professional bull-rider/bronco-rider both in Brazil and the U.S. He decided to return to show jumping in 2003 and rides Grand Prix horses for his friend and fellow countryman, Rodrigo Pessoa. Campos is fully committed to show jumping, but he still rides the bulls for fun. "When I visit my brother in Brazil I will get on one or two bulls just to get it out of my system."

Shakira Do Jacare was bred in Brazil by Sergio Campos' father. Her sire was a Thoroughbred and her dam was a Hannoverian. "She rides like a Thoroughbred. She is more comfortable going at a fast pace. With this horse, 99% of the time in the jump-off if she is clean then nobody can beat her time. [Laughs] then adds, "unless it's Aaron Vale." This time the stars were in Campos favor.

A total of twenty-two horse/rider combinations competed over Timmy Hott's first round course, and seven saw their way clear to advance to the jump-off.

Patty Stovel was the first to attempt the seven-obstacle jump-off course. Stovel piloted Shandor 41 clear in a careful time of 53.16 seconds. It was the slowest time of the competition, but with no rails down Stovel finished in fourth place overall.

Aaron Vale was up next with Gentleman George owned by Solitude Farm. With four horses still to jump, Vale set out at a blistering pace, cutting the corners to finish with 48.12 seconds on the clock.

The time to beat was set and Sergio Campos and Shakira Do Jocare rose to the challenge. "I had the chance to see Aaron go and he was really fast. With Shakira I can always try to chase him, but sometimes when you do that you can pull a rail. This time we were lucky and kept the rails up." Campos' time was 47.60 seconds. He was fast across the ground to the last jump and managed to shave half a second off Vale's time to win the competition. "There was a big run to the last and I probably had one or two less strides than Aaron, and that did it for me."

Derek Petersen had a four-fault performance in 50.48 seconds with Heaven Bound. He finished in fifth place. Mark Jungherr rode Enterprise clear and his time of 50.94 seconds gave him third place. Kristi Smith and On The Sly had some trouble and withdrew finishing in sixth place.

Sergio Campos described the course as being, "pretty tough for the first week." "There was a big triple combination that was a difficult triple, and was built for a scopey horse. The two horses I had in the Grand Prix are little (Shakira is 16'2 hand). So I was a little worried about the triple."

Campos also rode Fadiese a 12-year-old Selles Francais gelding owned by Rodrigo Pessoa's wife. The pair had a tenth place finish in the competition.

The 2006 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit will run for seven weeks from January 18-March 12, at HITS Post Time Farm, a beautiful 300+ acre property located right in the heart of Ocala horse country. The circuit will feature more than 250 classes each week and will award over $1 million in prize money.

Show jumping will resume at HITS Ocala on Wednesday, January 25, and the next Grand Prix show jumping event will be the $25,000 HITS Ocala Grand Prix on Sunday, January 29. A $50,000 Grand Prix will be offered each Sunday for weeks 3 through 6. Week 7, the finale to the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit, will feature the $100,000 Grand Prix of Ocala presented by Great American Insurance Group.

Other major award winners at HITS Ocala 1 included:

HBO Junior Medal - Joelle Sedlacek, Elverson, PA
HBO Children's Medal - Victoria Efird, Ada, MI
HBO Adult Medal - Kelsey Cochran, Kenilworth, IL
Farnam Adult Hunter Division -Twist of Fate ridden and owned by Jessica Lundgren, New York, NY
Adequan® Open Hunter Division - Untitled ridden by Amanda Steege, Bedminster, NJ, and owned by Katharine VonHolstein
Marshall & Sterling Child/Adult Hunter Classic - Hillcrest Blue ridden by Sophie Bliss, Katonah, NY, and owned by Jennifer Berol Bliss
Marshall & Sterling Child/Adult Jumper Classic - Margaret Reiney, Gurley, AL riding Marshall Dillon

For complete horse show results please visit http://www.hitsshows.com.

$25,000 HITS Ocala Grand Prix - Sunday, January 22, 2006
HITS Ocala 1 - Ocala, FL
Course Designer: Timmy Hott, Cape Coral, FL

MEDIA CONTACT: Mary Creech, HITS Media & Public Relations, 319 Main Street, Saugerties, New York 12477-1330. Tel: 845-246-8833, Fax: 845-246-6371, E-Mail: mcreech@frontiernet.net. Web: www.HitsShows.com