Savannah Jenkins Soars to $100,000 FarmVet Grand Prix Win
The first grand prix win of the 2025-2026 Desert International Horse Park season went to Savannah Jenkins and Hector du Ter on Saturday, November 1—but the duo did not get that win without first fighting hard for it right down to the finish.
At the end of the $100,000 FarmVet Grand Prix, just tenths of a second separated all four of the top finishers, with Jenkins and Hector du Ter ultimately clinching the victory in 41.122 seconds. Second place – on an incredibly close time of 41.137 seconds – went to Matt Williams and NKH Vittorio S, owned by NKH LLC. Rounding out the top three with a time of 41.219 seconds was Mark Kinsella and Katherine Huffstutler’s Olympic Quality, and fourth place went to Chelsea Brittner and Kalia D.
The win in the $5,000 IDA Development U25 Classic, held concurrently with the grand prix, went to Zazou Hoffman, who finished in seventh overall aboard Bloom du Plessis.
For Jenkins, she could not ask for a better way to kick off her time back in Thermal, Calif.
“It feels amazing; to start the season like this is huge confidence boost,” said Jenkins, who hails from Woodland Hills, Calif. “That horse is amazing. My team is amazing. We’ve worked really hard this year. We’ve gone to some really cool places, and it’s good to be home and show kind of what we’ve done over the last few months to prepare for stuff like this.”
On their way to Saturday night’s win, Jenkins and Hector du Ter were one of 43 entries to take on the Guilherme Jorge-designed track in the Grand Prix Stadium. From there, they were one of 10 to advance to the jump-off, where, one by one, riders cranked up the speed.
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Savannah Jenkins Soars to $100,000 FarmVet Grand Prix Win | Desert International Horse Park
