Friday’s $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix kicked off grand prix competition at Desert Circuit II, with 35 riders and horses eager to start the weekend with a win. The time allowed was the challenge of the day, with five clearing the course with no rails down, but only two doing so within the 84 second time allowed. Only Chris Pratt of Lake View Terrace, California, and Michelle Parker of San Marcos, California, were able to shift into high gear by jumping fault-free in the first round over Mexico course designer Florencio Hernandez’s 1.50m course of 15 jumping efforts.

First to return to the ring for the jump-off was Chris Pratt aboard Cruise, owned by Indigo Farms, LLC. Pratt and Cruise turned up the heat, putting in a flawlessly clear round over the shortened, 8-fence course.

Following Pratt in the jump-off was Michelle Parker riding Cupilor, owned by Cross Creek Farms, Inc. of Tucson, Arizona. With only Pratt’s quick jump-off time of 44.822 seconds on Parkers mind, she knew she had to be quick and careful. Parker put in a speedy, clear round in a time of 44.998 seconds, just a fraction slower than Pratt, which landed her the second-place prize.

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