Minikus takes unexpected win in WEF Challenge

Todd Minikus did not expect to win the $35000 WEF Challenge Cup aboard Kiekeboe Spirit, but his jump off round just kept getting better and better giving him victory over Richard Vogel on Cydello in second and Darragh Kenny on Eddy Blue in third.

Todd was the last of five to jump off and began to write himself out of the running after Darragh set the bar with an opening clear in 36.72 seconds. “I watched Darragh go and it looked nice and fast,” he said. “And I was like, this is a bummer you know, I’m going to be riding for fifth probably.”

Richard Vogel squeaked into the lead in 36.71 seconds but Todd’s round shut the clock down on 36.28. “Richie went and took the lead and Richie’s horse jumped fantastic,” Todd said. “But I found a nice rhythm to the first jump and then I left out a stride to the wall and he turned awesome to that third jump and I thought ooh I think I’m in the game and I started to get a little excited.”

From there things progressed when Todd took a chance to the combination that paid off. “It was a little dicey the way I came in there,” he said. “But when he came up with the right answer I was thinking, this is awesome, keep going now. My plan was to go around the bush to the last line but once he answered the question to the combination, I was, no you’re going inside now.”

Todd and Kiekeboe Spirit, a Dutch Warmblood owned by the Spirit Group, have only been partnered for 6 months and after some smaller classes last summer, the 9-year-old grey gelding found his form. “Late in the fall he started to come on really nicely and I couldn’t be prouder of him,” Todd said.