Wellington, Fla.—Mar. 1  

“Some days you’re the bug and some days you’re the windshield, and that’s how it works,” said Todd Minikus wryly in the press conference after the $150,000 WEF 8 Grand Prix, presented by Lugano Diamonds.

This weekend, Minikus was definitely the windshield. After jumping double clear rounds to lead the U.S. team to victory in Friday night’s $100,000 Nations Cup, presented by Kingsland Equestrian, Minikus and Babalou 41 continued their top form into Sunday afternoon to top the grand prix with a jump-off round that caused live feed commentator Jimmy Torano to comment, “I think it’s over now.” And that was with top riders like McLain Ward, Margie Engle, Rodrigo Pessoa and Beezie Madden yet to jump.

Commenting on his jump-off round, Minikus explained, “I saw Meagan [Nusz, one of the first to jump off] go from outside in the schooling area, and Meagan looked like she had a real nice round. I don’t really learn a jump-off until after I go clean. That is a superstition I have, so I was trying to figure out how the eight [strides] was going to work from the oxer to the combination and that kind of stuff. Then I looked around the schooling area and I see Beezie Madden, McLain Ward, the little kid from Chicago—Kent Farrington—Rodrigo Pessoa, I’m like, ‘Oh my God this is going to get fast!’

“[No. 1] was a difficult jump, the way it sat on an angle. You had to kind of be cautious to 1,” Minikus continued. “Then No. 2 was a hard turn. After the double then I really kind of floored it, if you will, did seven [strides] to the vertical and tight as I thought I could to the red oxer. Then for sure that was a horse race across the ring. Then she slowed down and got real patient to the last jump, so that was a sign of her maturity again. Then the rest of it was just nail-biting in the schooling area. McLain had the time. He got a little unlucky and had two down. For sure my time was fast. You would have to go fast to catch her.”

See Minikus’ amazing jump-off ride…

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Minikus spoke about how Bablou 41, a 10-year-old Oldenburg mare (Balou du Rouet x Silvio I) was carefully brought along, competing in the schooling jumpers for a long time before stepping up to higher levels. The time and effort have paid off, and Babalou is showing more experience and maturity with every outing.

“That was a nice week. I would like to thank Lugano Diamonds for their support today, and I would like to thank Two Swans Farm and Purina,” Minikus acknowledged. “Quality Girl got the week off, and Babalou is starting to step up into the big leagues and she is doing a great job of it. I am very excited about her. I kind of took it easy with her at the beginning of the circuit and hopefully she can continue to be strong here at the end of the circuit. There are some bigger things coming, so I could not be happier. She has been fantastic.”

“She was too exuberant about her jump when she was younger, so we had to tone it down a little bit, which is usually not the story,” Minikus detailed on Babalou’s development. “She always was a little bit of a fractious mare, and she has really calmed down now. She was always nervous about everything—the surroundings, the tractor, the water truck, that kind of thing, so now she barely notices that kind of stuff, which is just maturity.”

Madden knew she had a very fast time to chase, going last with Minikus in the lead, but she was happy with Simon’s efforts and a good finish.

“He is feeling great. He was actually kind of fresh again today in the schooling area. He was playing after the fence a lot, but he feels in good shape,” Madden noted. “I have to say, I didn’t see all of Todd’s round in the jump-off, but every time I looked up at the screen he was pushing her to go faster. I knew I was probably going for second because when he is that fast it is really difficult to catch him. I kind of have to do what I feel like I can do with Simon because he can get quite strong and nervous, but I felt that he handled going pretty fast today well. Over to the last line I took a good shot and he handled it great, so I am really happy with how he went.”

Watch Beezie and Simon’s jump-off round here.

Nusz had one of her biggest grand prix finishes in Sunday’s class with her mount, Dynamo, and was thrilled to be in the presence of two of the sport’s greats with her top three placing behind Minikus and Madden.

“First of all, to jump in this class with these guys and jump clean is a feat in itself, so that was exciting,” Nusz stated. “Then I went early in the jump-off, so I made my plan with Kent [trainer Kent Farrington] and just stuck to my plan. I hoped to put in a tidy, clean round and make them chase me and see if they could leave the jumps off. My horse could not have been better. He really jumped great both rounds and really helped me out. He stepped up where I needed him to. He is a special horse for me. I have had him since he was seven, so we have a really great partnership. I trust him and he trusts me and when we have good days, it’s the best, so I’m really happy with him.”

Final Results: $150,000 Grand Prix CSIO 4* presented by Lugano Diamonds

1. BABALOU 41: 2005 Oldenburg mare by Balou du Rouet x Silvio I, TODD MINIKUS (USA), Two Swans Farm: 0/0/35.77

2. SIMON: 1999 KWPN gelding by Mr. Blue x Polydox, BEEZIE MADDEN (USA), Abigail Wexner: 0/0/37.47

3. DYNAMO: 2003 BWP gelding by Skippy II x Lys de Darmen, MEAGAN NUSZ (USA), Amalaya Investments: 0/0/38.71

4. CABALLITO: 2002 Holsteiner gelding by Contendro x Argentinus, ANDRES RODRIGUEZ (VEN), Arao Enterprises LLC: 0/4/36.86

5. TINKABELL 12: 2005 KWPN mare by Casco x Ekstein, RODRIGO PESSOA (BRA), Rodrigo Pessoa: 0/4/39.77

6. CALVIN KLEIN: 2004 Swedish Warmblood gelding by Cardento x Feliciano, JONATHON MILLAR (USA), Millar Brooke Farm Ltd: 0/4/42.44

7. URUS 2: 2005 Oldenburg gelding by Canturo x Cento, LJUBOV KOCHETOVA (RUS), Ljubov Kochetova: 0/4/42.99

8. HH CARLOS Z: 2002 Zangersheide gelding by Chellano Z x Voltaire, MCLAIN WARD (USA), Double H Farm: 0/8/35.42

9. ROYCE: 2004 Oldenburg stallion by Café au Lait x Grandilot, MARGIE ENGLE (USA), Elm Rock LLC: 0/8/42.75

10. GAZELLE: 2006 Belgian Warmblood mare by Kashmir Van Shuttershof x Indoctro, KENT FARRINGTON (USA), Robin Parksy: 0/14/59.81

11. ABUNOLA: 2005 KWPN mare by Numero Uno x Voltaire, LUIS PEDRO BIRABEN (ARG), Luis Pedro Biraben: 4/76.80

12. COLASKO: 2005 Oldenburg stallion by Coleman x Granus, NICOLAS PIZARRO (MEX), Monica Burillo Eguia Lis & Nicolas Pizarro: 4/77.50