John French rode Tache Rouge to victory in front of an energetic crowd on Friday evening in the $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Dietrich Insurance featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery, to kick off an exciting season finale weekend at HITS Thermal.

French, from Gilroy, CA, had the ride for owner Alison Baileys and collected $3,000 in first-place prize money.

A field of 35 combinations in the first round were trimmed into a final round of 12 exhibitors who were asked to come back and compete for a final test. The first round was a regular classic course and the second round was a handy hunter course that included a trot jump, rollbacks and option jumps, all under the lights in HITS' Grand Prix ring. During the second round, judges were able to award bonus points for brilliance and handiness.

French and his mount achieved the top score in both the first and second rounds to secure the victory. He also was seventh aboard Type Cast and 10th aboard Obelix. Rounding out the top-three finishers were Lucy Davis aboard Clockwork in second and Natalie Rae Medlock aboard Y2K took third.

"The class featured some great jumps, like the post and rail fences and wonderful rock walls," said French. "It was all stuff from where hunters originated from, and it was so much fun to ride on."

The $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Dietrich Insurance featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery, was the second installment of the class during the 2008 HITS Desert Circuit. During DC III, Jenny Karazissis took the blue aboard El Campeon's Swoon. On Friday evening, she was very competitive, finishing fourth aboard Aragon.

At HITS Ocala, Jennifer Alfano rode Rock Star to victory in front of a boisterous crowd on Saturday evening in the $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Dietrich Insurance featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery.

Alfano, of Buffalo, NY, had the ride for owner Bright Star 158, LLC, and collected $3,000 in first-place prize money. Alfano had a fabulous night, finishing the evening with three horses in the money. She was fifth aboard Violets are Blue and eighth aboard Sting.

The field of 48 combinations in the first round was trimmed to a final round of 12 exhibitors who were asked to come back and compete for a final test. Alfano and her mount achieved the top score in both the first and second rounds to secure the victory. "The hunter ring in Ocala is always a lot of fun to show in," said Alfano. "That ring is beautiful. But it's even better under the lights. Course Designer Rian Beals did a great job with it and had a lot of fun building the course. It was great to have options built into the course."

Also excelling in the $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby were Mary Lisa Leffler and her mount Sam Adams, who finished in second place, and Mickie Sage and her ride, Prestige, who ended the evening in third place.

For more information on the USHJA International Hunter Derby, please visit www.ushja.org/programs/intl-htr-chall.shtml. Please refer to the USHJA website for the most up-to-date schedule at www.ushja.org. For information on hosting a class, please contact Melanie Fransen at [email protected].