Todd Minikus hasn’t known Cordonos very long. In fact, the 14-year-old gelding arrived in his barn just two weeks ago.

But that didn’t stop him from riding the Oldenburg to the top of the first grand prix of the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival, the $30,000 WEF 1 Grand Prix held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla., on Jan. 11.

Minikus and Cordonos topped a massive 22-horse jump-off with some of the fastest riders in the world; Ireland’s Conor Swail and Grafton finished second and U.S. rider McLain Ward and HH Ashley were third.

Minikus rode Cordonos for the first time a couple of days before competing in the Trump Invitational Grand Prix on Jan. 4. The 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Lordanos—Feldherrin, Tin Rocco) had just arrived in Florida and jumped quite well, then went on to a nice 4-fault round in Thursday’s Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 1 to begin the WEF circuit. Although they are just getting to know each other, the pair was perfectly in sync for Sunday’s winning jump-off round. 

See how Minikus beat Swail in the jump-off…

Cordonos, an Irish-bred Oldenburg, competed in the European Young Rider Championships in 2010 with Irish rider Vincent Bryne and then spent most of 2013 and 2014 showing at the 1.30-meter level with Belgian rider June Peeters. In the fall of 2014, he showed in Calgary, Alberta at Spruce Meadows, jumping 1.45-meter classes with junior rider Claire Doty.

 “Today we knew each other a little better, and it all worked out,” Minikus declared following his win. “It ended up being an extremely fast class. Conor is obviously blistering fast. I didn’t see him go, but I knew what to expect. I didn’t really know how to manage the jump-off. I was stuck right in the middle of 22 horses. I kind of tapped him with my stick behind my leg and he jumped into the bridle a little bit. I thought, ‘OK, seems like he’s ready.’ I hate trying to ride for fourth place anyway.

“The times were almost the same,” Minikus said of where he beat Swail. “I don’t have any idea. Conor’s horse probably jumped a little higher or something. It seems like the times were very close.”

Commenting on the course, Minikus noted, “It is the first grand prix of the circuit and some of the top horses are coming here in a few weeks. These are young horses or horses you’re trying to get familiar with. There were enough clean, but it’s hard to build this first week. It’s only supposed to be 1.45m. Eric did a good job. The reality is that everybody is confident enough to move on to next week. I don’t think there were any horses that got into trouble.”

Minikus has big plans for the season as the current leader in the North American East Coast League for the FEI World Cup Finals. He also has his sights set on the Pan American Games later in the year. He has some top horses to show this winter, including superstar mount Quality Girl, and looks forward to what may come with Cordonos as well.

“I don’t know a lot about the horse to be honest,” Minikus noted. “I don’t know what he’s done, but he has been a good sport in every class so far. He comes back over here and we run his legs off, and he jumps great. I guess we’ll keep feeding him Purina and see what happens!”

For second place finisher Swail, Sunday’s class was a great start to the circuit for his mount Grafton, a 9-year-old Selle Francais stallion. Swail previously owned the horse himself in partnership with Barry O’Connor, and then Ariel and Susan Grange purchased the horse so that he could continue to show it.

“He did a little bit here last year. I was injured for six months, but Darren Dlin rode him here and did a nice job with him,” Swail detailed. “I started riding him a little bit in Spruce Meadows in the 1.45-meter, 1.50-meter classes. He was green, but impressive. He did a bit in Europe and jumped some speed classes in Dublin. He jumped three days clear.

“I’m sort of building him up as one of my better horses in the near future,” Swail continued. “Today he jumped a nice round. He’s hard to get underneath the time allowed in the first round. He jumps quite high and hangs in the air a bit. In the jump-off, I started off in a good rhythm and I got a great shot back to the vertical. I went inside to the double and Todd was saying it was the same for him that for whatever reason, they didn’t turn great away from there. When I came out, I knew it was going to be very close. For me, I knew I had nothing left apart from one less step across the gallop. It was one of those jump-offs where you couldn’t touch the reins. Every time you saw anything, you just took it. It was great; I’m delighted with the horse.”

Swail is happy to be back in the ring at WEF after an achilles tendon injury sidelined him last winter. He got back to riding in May and had a successful summer of competition and is feeling great with the start of another season. 

“When I first started riding again I felt very loose in the saddle and I wasn’t strong. My eyes were working well and I knew everything to do, but the body wasn’t working well,” he explained. “It wasn’t doing exactly what I wanted it to do, but in the last few months I have gotten very close to where I was before, so I’m excited for WEF this year. I’m looking forward to it. I have some nice horses and great owners in Sue and Ariel Grange and her family. I’m hoping for a good 12 weeks here.”