March 13, Thermal, Calif.
Going in for the jump-off of the $200,00 Lamborghini Grand Prix at HITS Desert Circuit VI, Lucy Davis wasn’t expecting a win—she was just happy to be there among a star-studded group including Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Rich Fellers. So when Davis and Old Oak Farm’s Nemo 119 turned in the fastest clear round in the jump-off, Davis was a little overwhelmed with the result.
“This is by far the biggest money class I’ve won,” said Davis. “Meredith was in there, and Rich Fellers and Kirsten [Coe], so many good riders. I’m just in awe. I don’t even know what to say.”
Olaf Petersen’s tricky course left only five standing out of the original 53-horse field. An imposing triple bar came down frequently, as did jumps in the triple combination and the final oxer, eliciting groans from the crowd as several pairs made it around clear until that point. Davis, 18, and Nemo made quick work of the first course, though Davis admitted it was challenging.
“I thought it looked big and hard and technical when I walked it. I thought it looked like a good course,” said Davis. “I was planning on using it to get some good experience in the ring. I’ve never really been in a class with this much money and this caliber of riders. I was hoping to just be respectable. I think my horse saved me in a lot of places. He was just incredible. That huge triple bar was big, and the triple combination was tough. There were no moments of easy rest.”
Out of the five who returned for the short course, just Coe, aboard Ilan Ferder’s Kilkenny Randall Z, and Davis made it around without faults. Flexible and Fellers clocked around with the quickest time, but one pulled rail dropped them to third. Michaels-Beerbaum’s mount Kismet 50 took down two poles and finished fourth above Jill Humphrey on Alicia Jonsson Foster’s Tao Tao 3.
“Meredith and Rich are two incredibly fast riders, and the only way I was going to be able to beat them was if they had rails,” Davis said. “It was just my day. I don’t think I could have beat them otherwise. I just got really lucky.”
ADVERTISEMENT
This wasn’t the first win of the Desert Circuit for Davis, Los Angeles, Calif. She also topped the 25,000 Smartpak Grand Prix just two days ago on her other grand prix mount Hannah, and the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix with Nemo and the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix with Hannah during week five. Davis, who rides with Michaels-Beerbaum, her husband, Marcus Beerbaum, and Gabby Salick, gave her trainers and horses all the credit for her recent victories.
“Nemo’s a little more experienced than I am in these rings, and he’s just been so forgiving,” Davis said. “He’s really brought me along, and I can’t thank him enough.”
Davis started riding with Michaels-Beerbaum shortly before she went over to compete in Europe last year for the Youngster Cup at CSI Frankfurt (Germany). Since Michaels-Beerbaum is wintering in California, Davis has had even more time to learn from her experienced mentor.
“Before the jump-off her advice was, ‘You don’t have anything to lose. Go for it.’ But she also gave me little tricks to go faster in the course,” said Davis.
“I want to send a special thank you to my trainers because they completely revolutionized my horses and my riding, and I feel so grateful and fortunate to be able to ride in such a program,” Davis added. “They’re really inspiring and positive and always think of the horses first, and they take it one step at a time thinking about what’s best for the horses and riders. I could not have done any of this without them.”
Results from HITS Desert Circuit VI on the HITS website.
