Week one of the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) concluded on Sunday with the $30,000 WEF 1 Grand Prix held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. In a 22-horse jump-off with some of the fastest riders in the world, USA’s Todd Minikus came out on top aboard Carl Brem’s Cordonos. Ireland’s Conor Swail and Grafton finished second and USA’s Mclain Ward and HH Ashley were third.
Course designer Eric Hasbrouck’s final track for week one competition yielded 22 out of 55 entries in the $30,000 WEF 1 Grand Prix. In the jump-off, nine entries were able to clear the short course without fault in a race against the clock.
Marie Hecart (FRA) and Rogelio Pellerano’s Quatour de B Neville set the pace, first to jump clear over the short course in 35.83 seconds, to eventually finish seventh. Liza Finzness (USA) and Shiver took the eighth place honors in 36.94 seconds. Alise Oken (USA) and Hi Hopes Farm LLC’s Teirra upped the pace next to finish fourth in 33.75 seconds. Daniel Zetterman (SWE) and Gyllebo Farm LLC’s Zhivago were clear in 34.82 seconds to finish sixth.
Conor Swail and Ariel and Susan Grange’s Grafton followed to take the lead in 32.67 seconds, but were soon pushed into second place. Eirin Bruheim (NOR) and Nordic Lights Farm LLC’s NLF Favorite also jumped clear and finished ninth in 43.57 seconds. The winning round followed with Todd Minikus and Cordonos blazing through the timers in 32.22 seconds. McLain Ward and Double H Farm’s HH Ashley jumped into third place in the next clear round with a time of 33.04 seconds. The final clear came from Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam and Bijzonder, owned by Sweet Oak Farm and Paul Tracy, with the fifth place time of 34.30 seconds.
Todd Minikus first rode class winner, Cordonos, for the first time a couple of days before competing in the Trump Invitational Grand Prix, presented by Rolex, one week ago. The 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Lordanos x Tin Rocco) had just arrived in Florida and jumped quite well, then went on to a nice four 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.
“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 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.”
$30,000 WEF 1 Grand Prix
1. 3454CORDONOSTODD MINIKUSCARL BREMS: 0/0/ 32.220
2. 1307 GRAFTON CONOR SWAILARIEL AND SUSAN GRANGE: 0/0/32.677
3. 1800 HH ASHLEYMCLAIN WARDDOUBLE H FARM: 0/0/33.045
4. 1009 TEIRRAALISE OKENHI HOPES FARM LLC: 0/0/33.753
5. 75 BIJZONDERSHANE SWEETNAMSWEET OAK FARM & PAUL TRACY: 0/0/34.303
6. 4100 ZHIVAGODANIEL ZETTERMANGYLLEBO FARM LLC: 0/0/34.823
7. 1765 QUATOUR DE B NEVILLEMARIE HECARTROGELIO PELLERANO: 0/0/35.830
8. 1581 SHIVERLIZA FINSNESSLIZA FINSNESS: 0/0/36.942
9. 2991 NLF FAVORITEEIRIN BRUHEIMNORDIC LIGHTS FARM LLC: 0/0/43.571
10. 1309 MARTHA LOUISECONOR SWAILARIEL AND SUSAN GRANGE: 0/4/32.386
11. 1684 D ELIA VAN HET MOLENHOFDARRAGH KERINSJAN VAN TRICHT: 0/4/32.494
12. 2367 CONTIKINICHOLAS DELLO JOIOCOKER FARM INC: 0/4/33.581
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