Todd Minikus and Pavarotti Take Early WEG Lead
Todd Minikus and Pavarotti soar over the triple bar. © 2010 Randi Muster/Mustphoto, Inc., Official Sport Photographer of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, www.mustphoto.com.
Wellington, FL – February 25, 2010 – The USEF World Equestrian Games Trials, presented by Fidelity Investments, began today for the U.S. show jumping team, and it was Todd Minikus of Loxahatchee, FL, and Pavarotti, owned by Todd Minikus Ltd., who took the early lead by winning the $40,000 USEF WEG Trial 1 over Wellington, FL’s Margie Engle on Hidden Creek’s Campella, owned by Hidden Creek Farm, and Rich Fellers of Wilsonville, OR, with Harry and Molly Chapman’s Flexible. Earlier in the afternoon, the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round Seven saw Yann Candele (CAN) on Pitareusa, owned by Susan Grange, in the winner’s circle. Katie Prudent (FRA) and Sassicaia II finished second, while Carlos Lopez (COL) aboard Penny Lane was third.
The seventh week of the FTI WEF is sponsored by Fidelity Investments and runs through Sunday, February 28. A crowd of nearly 2,500 spectators came to watch the start of the USEF WEG Trials, presented by Fidelity Investments. This week hosts very exciting competition, and the second trial for the USEF World Equestrian Games (WEG) Show Jumping team will be incorporated into the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, CSI 2* on Saturday, February 27, at 7 p.m.
The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has 12 weeks of competition that conclude on April 4, 2010, and they will be awarding almost $6 million in prize money through the circuit.
Guilherme Jorge of Brazil designs the courses in the International Arena this week. For the first trial for the USEF WEG Show Jumping team, a course was set with 13 numbered obstacles in a Time First Round format. There were 44 entries in the class, and 13 found the way to a clear round. Fellers noted, “I thought the course was stout and there would be four or five clean.”
Engle added, “It wasn’t that technical yet, but it was a lot of big jumps. I think you saw a lot of good jumping. It shows that we have a lot of good horse/rider combinations in this country, maybe even more so this year than previous years. I think that’s a good sign.”
The fastest was Minikus on Pavarotti, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding by Lancelot / Renville. They finished the course in 83.24 seconds out of a late 40th position in the order. Engle and Hidden Creek’s Campella crossed the timers in 84.03 seconds, and Fellers guided Flexible to finish in 87.30 seconds. Just behind them were Beezie Madden on new mount Via Volo, who finished in 87.51 seconds and Kent Farrington on Uceko in 87.66 seconds.
It was a good start for the U.S. riders, and it shows that the selection is deep to field the 15 horse and rider combinations that will comprise the long list for this year’s WEG team.
Margie Engle and Hidden Creek Campella. © 2010 Randi Muster/Mustphoto, Inc., Official Sport Photographer of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, www.mustphoto.com.
Engle is riding a younger horse that just moved up to the grand prix level last summer. “She felt great. She’s new to this. I was very pleased with how she went,” she said. “She seemed pretty relaxed and surprisingly went very nicely. She’s very scopey; she just doesn’t have that much mileage at this point.”
Rich Fellers, who traveled from showing in California to compete at the FTI WEF for the trials, was relieved that he started well. “That gets the monkey off your back. It’s a long trip and a huge effort for us to come here. It’s a great way to start,” he admitted.
It has been seven years since Fellers last showed in Wellington, but he is enjoying his time in Florida. “The facility is great. It’s changed a lot over the years. I think it’s a top-class event,” he remarked.
Rich Fellers and Flexible. © 2010 Randi Muster/Mustphoto, Inc., Official Sport Photographer of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, www.mustphoto.com.
Fellers and Flexible have had top international finishes, including second place in the 2008 FEI World Cup Finals in Gothenburg. Fellers said of Flexible, “He’s been amazing from the beginning. He felt really good out there tonight. If I get him there halfway close, he tries his guts out.”
Minikus agreed, “It’s a good start. This is a long process and there is a lot of jumping that has to go on. It’s a good confidence builder that all of your wheels are working together and it’s always a team effort. Things were organized and hopefully it stays together through the whole process. It’s one class at a time, one jump at a time.”
He said of his horse with a smile, “I think he knew it was game time.”
For the current trial standings, only the scores count towards their cumulative score. The 13 clear rounds are all tied for first place in this early point.
For full results and more information, please visit www.shownet.biz or www.equestriansport.com.
Final Results: $40,000 USEF WEG Trial 1
1. PAVAROTTI: 1997 KWPN gelding by Lancelot/Renville
TODD MINIKUS (USA), TODD MINIKUS: 0/83.240
2. HIDDEN CREEK’S CAMPELLA: 2000 SWED mare by Grey Cardento/Stanford 687 MARGIE ENGLE (USA), HIDDEN CREEK FARM INC.: 0/84.030
3. FLEXIBLE: 1996 ISH stallion by Cruising
RICHARD FELLERS (USA), HARRY AND MOLLY CHAPMAN: 0/87.300
4. VIA VOLO: 1998 BWP mare Clinton/Heartbreaker
BEEZIE MADDEN (USA), CORAL REEF RANCH LLC: 0/87.51
5. UCEKO: 2001 KWPN gelding by Celano/Koriander
KENT FARRINGTON (USA), RCG FARM: 0/87.660
6. QUICK STUDY: 1999 SELLE gelding by Quick Star xx What A Joy
LAUREN HOUGH (USA), LAURA MATEO: 0/87.910
7. METROPOLITAN: 2000 SELLE FRANCAIS stallion by Cabdula Du Tillard/Laudanum xx
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG (USA), GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/88.170
8. CEDRIC: 1998 KWPN gelding
LAURA KRAUT (USA), HAPPY HILL FARM: 0/88.540
9. RALVESTHER: 1998 KWPN mare by Calvaro/Zevenster
BRIANNE GOUTAL (USA), CLOVERLEAF FARM: 0/88.870
10. QUINCY B: 1996 HOLST gelding by Quidam de Revel/ Lagos
HILLARY DOBBS (USA), HILLARY DOBBS: 0/89.280
11. FIEDI 3: 1998 HAN gelding by Graf Top/Palisander
GEORGINA BLOOMBERG (USA), GOTHAM ENTERPRIZES: 0/90.840
12. TRISTAN: 2000 KWPN gelding by Lancelot/Ferro
NICOLE SHANINIAN-SIMPSON (USA), ILAN FEDERER: 0/91.160
