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It Was a Minikus Tuesday at the Hampton Classic

Bridgehampton, NY - August 28, 2007 - - Most people are happy if they have one victory on any day at the Hampton Classic, but on Tuesday, Todd Minikus won both the low and high open jumper classes. He rode Eltonn, winner of last year’s Nicolock Time Challenge, to win the 1.35M in the morning and then it was Ultimo Rouge who carried him to the win in the afternoon’s 1.40M Open Jumper Class. 

“We started off the day with a nice win on Eltonn,” commented Minikus. “That was a nice class with almost 80 plus entries. Any time there is that number of horses in any kind of a race whether it is cycling or car racing or whatever, to win with that many entries is always a nice treat.”

Eltonn is owned by Tracy Topping, who grew up in the Hamptons. “She is a great lover of her horses,” continued Minikus. “It was nice to win a class for her.”

“This afternoon I won on a horse that we just purchased last week. It was the first time I’ve truly shown him,” commented Todd about Ultimo Rouge, the horse he knew very little about.

Todd went early in the second class of well over 50 horses. He was the 13th in the order but his clear round in a time of 62.14 held fast. This was a speed class very similar to a jump-off round but as the first round. The nearest competitor to Todd was so close that Chris Kappler must have realized how little it would have taken to overtake the leader.  Kappler finished on Maserati not even a whisper behind Minikus in a time of 62.15.

While both their rounds were deftly ridden you never really felt that anyone in the class was pulling out all the stops today. They are waiting to shift their gears up a notch as the week progresses and the classes and the money increase in size. Each of today’s open jumper classes had a purse of $5,000.

Course designer Conrad Homfeld produced a 12 fence course with the very first oxer fence set up pretty much in front of the ingate straight on to a second oxer. From there riders had there first turn to the vertical Calvin Klein jump set on an angle. After a broken line gallop to the left they were faced with their first in and out set on an angle which had them jumping headed towards the VIP tent (4AB). After that they turned on another sharp right broken line to #5 the David Yurman vertical. After almost a complete sweeping circle headed them again towards the VIP tent they were faced with the vertical Jaguar jump #6 (right) and then down an outside line in front of the VIP tent over #7 and #8 which were two fences with approximately three strides in between. Fence #9 was a pretty huge oxer down the centerline of the arena followed by a broken line to 10A-B set on a bit of a diagonal headed toward the chalets and then onto #11 (the Prudential vertical) which was placed at the end of the long side. A left hand turn brought them to the final fence on the course, a narrow oxer.

In walking the course it was clear the riders had a lot of options. While they needed to take care to leave the fences up they also could take chances to cut corners to save time.

“As usual Conrad does a fantastic job. His reputation for sure is top, top, top. It was the first day so it was very friendly courses. We have a World Cup qualifier coming up and the grand prix on Sunday so you know it’s going to get more difficult,” explained Minikus.

Todd was proud of Ultimo but couldn’t say much about this new ride since he’s really only had him for a week. “He was okay today. He is a very careful horse and so at the beginning I was a little cautious not understanding what he was all about. At the end I was able to put on the gas pedal a little bit.”

Minikus talked to me today while he was schooling yet another horse after having shown all day. Yet when I motioned to him he took a moment to chat with me about his very successful day.

Third place went to Carolyn Kelly and Rulanda (64.80). This combination was only the second in the order to go.

Today it almost seemed too quiet and peaceful at the Hampton Classic. The weather was beautiful, there was a small crowd watching from the VIP tents and grand stands while other spectators were wandering around the grounds enjoying the many other hunter and equitation classes and exhibition tent activities. Others went wandering through the boutiques garden choosing items to buy and stopping for a snack along the way.

With a full week in front of us a memories still lingering of a very rainy soaked 2006 Hampton Classic, this peaceful and beautiful Tuesday was a perfect day to set up the rest of this week.

Looking ahead, the highlights for this week include the Bluhammock Music Open Jumper class on Thursday, the $50,000 Grey Goose Vodka FEI World Cup Qualifier on Friday (which decides the top 30 riders for Sunday’s $150,000 FTI Grand Prix). Saturday is Cablevision Kid’s Day, presented by Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, as well as the $25,000 Sotheby’s International Realty Challenge for those who don’t qualify for Sunday’s grand prix. Also on Saturday is the $10,000 Wölffer Estate Equitation Championship. Sunday will also showcase the $25,000 Calvin Klein Show Jumping Derby, a member of event of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, and the $10,000 Hermès Hunter Classic.

Stay with us throughout the week as we continue to give you updates from the 2007 Hampton Classic Horse Show.

PHOTOS BY: Diana DeRosa