Wellington, Fla.—Jan. 31  

For the second week in a row, Todd Minikus was the big winner of the Saturday night grand prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival on Jan. 30. During Week 2 of the winter circuit, held the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, Minikus topped the $86,000 Marshall & Sterling Insurance Grand Prix CSI 2* riding Quality Girl.

For his win in Week 3, the rider guided Babalou 41 to a thrilling victory in the $130,000 Adequan® Grand Prix CSI 3*. Laura Kraut and Nouvelle finished second, and Chloe Reid  and Codarco placed third.

Todd Minikus riding Babalou 41 to the win in the $130,000 Adequan® Grand Prix at WEF 3. Photo by Sportfot

“She had a great winter last year and an awesome summer,” Minikus said of Babalou. “Then I fell off of her jumping literally a two-foot fence before the L.A. Masters [in October] and this is her first show back since then. It probably was a blessing in disguise because now I have a very fresh horse.

“She was always a good horse,” Minikus continued. “She is very explosive with her jump and it took a while to get her to come down a bit. She always over-jumped too much, but we worked that out and here we are.”

Since he is coming back from an injury and the Olympic Games in Rio are coming up this summer, Minikus is also getting some extra help from trainers Katie and Henri Prudent this winter.

“I think I’ll get it back this winter,” Minikus said of the setback. “Katie and Henri are helping me, which I have never really had someone help me from the ground. This was their first week helping, so I’m sure they are happy. I am trying to be very serious about Rio. I think this is an important year and it can’t hurt to have an extra set of eyes on the ground.”

Luc Musette of Belgium set a challenging track for the 44 competitors in Saturday night’s highlight event under the lights of the International Ring at PBIEC. Seven entries cleared the first round course to advance to the jump-off.

Paris Sellon and Adare were the first pair to tackle the short course, jumping without fault in 44.19 seconds, to eventually finish sixth. Reid and Codarco jumped next, clear in 42.92 seconds, to take third place honors. Scott Keach of Australia followed with a clear round in 43.18 seconds aboard Southern Cross Equestrian LLC’s Fedor to place fourth. Kraut briefly took the lead with a time of 41.87 seconds riding the Evita Group’s Nouvelle, but settled for second place in the end. Conor Swail of Ireland followed with a time of 44.08 seconds to take the fifth place prize riding Rubens LS La Silla for Vanessa Mannix.

Meredith Michaels Beerbaum of Germany and Artemis Equestrian Farm LLC’s Comanche 28 were next, but a drive-by at the second-to-last fence gave the pair 4 jumping faults and 6 time faults to finish seventh. Last to go, Minikus and Two Swans Farm’s Babalou 41 blazed through the course for the win in 41.15 seconds.

Babalou 41 is an 11-year-old Oldenburg mare (Balou du Rouet x Silvio I) that Minikus has brought along for the last several years. The mare had a fantastic WEF circuit in 2015, including a win in the $150,000 Grand Prix CSIO 4* presented by Lugano Diamonds during Week 8 competition. She also jumped double clean that week to help team USA win the $100,000 Nations Cup, presented by Kingsland Equestrian. The pair went on to compete in the Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas in April, and represented team USA in Nations Cup competitions three more times throughout the year in Hickstead, Dublin, and Spruce Meadows (Alberta).

Watch Minikus and Babalou’s first round trip…

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When Minikus had a fall in September that caused a severe groin injury, he was forced to take some time off, but noted that the break may have been a benefit to his horses, which have come back fresh and in winning form for the winter.

“I thought Babalou was fantastic tonight, and I would like to thank the whole team at Two Swans Farm,” Minikus stated. “My wife and kids could not be here tonight, but I would like to thank them for putting up with me. It is always a team effort, from the blacksmiths, to the veterinarians, to the Adequan® that we use, to show management—there are a lot of people involved and a lot of people who deserve credit.”

Heading into Saturday’s jump-off, Minikus had the advantage of going last, although he did not get to see Kraut’s round, which held the lead.

“Laura and I have been in a lot of jump-offs and she is always blazing fast,” Minikus stated. “I did not get the chance to watch her, but I just assumed that it was fast and you just gotta go for it.”

Commenting on her round with Nouvelle, Kraut detailed, “I knew Chloe was very quick, and you have Conor, Todd, and Meredith behind you, so I went as quick as I thought I could tonight. This is her fourth class back since September, and I did not really get the plan I wanted this week due to the rain. I said to Todd that I chickened out a bit to the last fence. When I came out of the ring I said I deserved to be beat because I gave it a good run at the second to last [jump] and then I thought I got lucky, so I pulled on the reins. He should have beaten me.”

For 19-year-old Chloe Reid, the night’s third place finish was her best yet in a WEF grand prix. Last year she jumped her first Saturday night class and fell off, so this night was an improvement.

“Being here tonight is incredible,” Reid stated. “I have had Codarco for a little over a year. The past six months we were in Germany competing with Markus Beerbaum and Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and that experience was incredible. I learned so much over there. To be able to come back to Florida this circuit and show all my friends and other competitors what I learned this summer has been so much fun.”

The next day, Richard Spooner and McLain Ward took the headline classes, the $35,000 Douglas Elliman 1.45-meter speed and the $35,000 Suncast® 1.50-meter Championship Jumper Classic.

Spooner, a California-based rider, is competing in his first WEF circuit since 2011 and rode Gerardo & Alfonso Pasquel’s 10-year-old Zangersheide stallion Mighty Mouse (Quartz Adelheid Z X Codexco) to the blue in the speed.

Californian Richard Spooner came east to win the $35,000 Douglas Elliman 1.45-meter speed class on Mighty Mouse. Photo by Sportfot

“Mighty Mouse is exciting,” Spooner praised. “I rode him a couple of times last year in Del Mar and he won one class there. Then he went back his owner, Gerardo, who rode him in some shows. He is a very versatile horse. Gerardo is not a professional and he wins a lot with that horse, but he had to have surgery on his knee, so I am lucky enough to get to ride the horse a little bit for the circuit.

“I have to say, it was a very difficult speed course because he used the triple combination, which is kind of abnormal,” Spooner said of the class. “It was oxer-vertical-vertical, so it was not too scopey or anything, but anytime you put a triple in a speed round it is kind of like speed bumps at Walmart—you have to really hit the brakes.

Spooner has high hopes for Mighty Mouse, stating, “I would say he is a grand prix horse for sure. He can jump 1.50-meter, 1.55-meter, I think 1.60-meter. He has not really done that yet, but he is just 10 years old and he is pretty spectacular. His name is fitting. He is little, but mighty.”

Victory in the $35,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic went to Ward and HH Carlos Z in a 13-horse jump-off. The 14-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Chellano Z x Voltaire) had a long break after the Royal Winter Fair in November and is getting back into top form to begin his 2016 season.

McLain Ward and HH Carlos knocked off the rust with a win in the $35,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic. Photo by Sportfot

Commenting on the build-up to Sunday’s win, Ward noted, “Our schedule got a little screwed up this week with the weather. Normally I like a warm-up class with him, but he had to go straight into the WEF [Challenge Cup] on Friday. He actually jumped great. I did not ride very well. I think I over-rode him a lot, so I tried to settle down a little bit today and just ride him normal. I thought he jumped a good first round. There were a few kinks I still wanted to work out, and then when he gets in the jump-off, you normally have a pretty good chance.

“We needed a clear round and a win,” Ward admitted. “I always feel like I start a little rusty after the break and it is certainly good for the confidence.”