Richard Spooner brought all five of his mounts into the jump-off of the $30,000 Ariat Grand Prix Friday afternoon, but he couldn’t get past Gyro and Rich Fellers as that combination rode away with the blue ribbon.
Friday’s win was the second consecutive grand prix triumph for Fellers on the 2006 Indio Desert Circuit. In last Sunday’s $75,000 Footings Unlimited Grand Prix, Fellers and McGuinness posted the only double-clear round to secure the top purse.
”It’s nice to put a winning streak together,” said Fellers. “I’d like to make it three-in-a-row on Sunday.”
The $75,000 SURPASS Grand Prix will be the feature class on Sunday.
Spooner held down five of the top eight spots, including second, third and fourth place. Hilton Flight and Cristallo each posted double-clear rounds for Spooner, but neither could top the time of 37.90 clocked by Fellers.
None of the other mounts went clear in the jump-off, as most of the problems came from jumps 5A and 5B. Riders dropped four rails on each of the combination vertical hurdles.
Ezrah had the fastest four-fault score and was fourth for Spooner. Airtime was sixth and Apachie was eight rounding out a very successful day for the Indio Desert Circuit’s all-time leading money winner.
”I went in loaded for bear but came out with a squirrel,” said Spooner, who collected $15,300 on the afternoon.
Course designer Leopoldo Palacios filtered the field of 63 down to a jump-off of 11 horses. Rounding out the top-five with a four-fault score was John Pearce and Uriso.
If the third time is truly a charm and Rich Fellers can capture the $75,000 SURPASS Grand Prix that would make $54,000 over the past seven days.
Not too bad for a weeks worth of work.
$30,000 Ariat Grand Prix - Friday, March 3, 2026
HITS Desert Circuit V - Indio, CA
Course Designer: Leopoldo Palacios, Caracas, Venezuela
1 GYRO RICH FELLERS HARRY / MOLLIE CHAPMAN
2 HILTON FLIGHT RICHARD SPOONER FREEDOM FARMS INC / DARIN GILCHRIESE
3 CRISTALLO RICHARD SPOONER SHOW JUMPING SYNDICATION’S INT’L
4 EZRAH RICHARD SPOONER S&B LLC CORP
5 URIOSO JOHN PEARCE FOREST VIEW FARMS
6 AIRTIME RICHARD SPOONER C & S PARTNERSHIP
7 S F CASSANDRA JENNIFER F CROOKS STELLA FARM
8 APACHE RICHARD SPOONER RICHARD SPOONER
9 CHARMED PETER PLETCHER ALEX DILLARD
10 KILKENNY LESANDRA MARIANO ALARIO KILKENNY CREST LLC
11 CHAMPAGNE JOHN PEARCE FOREST VIEW FARMS
12 PRESTO B SUSAN ARTES ALIX FARGO
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