Tracy Fenney Takes Two in the $25,000 John Deere Grand Prix
The penultimate day of competition during the HITS Ocala Holiday Festival on Saturday, December 21, saw a stacked field of contenders for the week’s premiere event, the $25,000 John Deere Grand Prix. As the final event of the 2024 season, the Holiday Festival offered athletes one final week of hunter, jumper, and equitation action and a chance to check out the incredible renovations at HITS Post Time Farm before the 2025 season premieres. In a scene similar to the featured event of the Holiday Classic during the previous week, top call of the day went to none other than Tracy Fenney (USA) and her brilliant mount, Can Talk To Me TD MTM.
Building off of a successful week for many athletes during the Holiday Classic, course designer Ken Krome ever-so-slightly upped the ante for a field of 31 horse-and-rider pairings, who were all setting their sights on one final win before the 2025 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit. Proving that they planned to bring their A-game to the iconic showgrounds, 10 duos in the starting field produced a clean first round within the time allowed to advance to the short course. Many played their cards right and came home fault free, but when she brings her best, Fenney is hard to beat. She and the eight-year-old Holsteiner mare (Catoki x Acorado) proved they are already hitting their stride early in the season, as they clocked in mere milliseconds faster than top challenger Aaron Vale (USA) for the win in 37.37 seconds.
“I liked today’s jump off,” explained Fenney. “It was smooth and flowing, and you could do some interesting turns to make it suit yourself versus just doing a big gallop across the ring.
“Obviously Kirk [Webby (NZL)] is really fast so I knew, watching him go before me, kind of what I’d have to do,” she continued. “Then having Aaron [Vale] and Jelmer [Hoekstra (NED)] and some of those guys behind me, you’re wondering if you were fast enough.”
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Tracy Fenney Takes Two in the $25,000 John Deere Grand Prix – HITS Horse Shows
