Todd Minikus and Quality Girl (Photo courtesy of Jack Mancini)
New York, New York (September 25, 2015) – Show jumping competition has begun at the 2nd Annual Rolex Central Park Horse Show in New York City. Last night, on what is normally the Wollman Ice Skating Rink in the middle of Manhattan, 27 elite horse and rider combinations sped around course in the U.S. Open $40,000 FEI Speed class, presented by Canadian Pacific Railways.
Todd Minikus and Quality Girl, owned by the Quality Group, showed that they are both in the New York state of mind this week while on the course produced by internationally acclaimed course designer Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. “He is one of the better course designers in the world at this point and he did a fantastic job last night and I’m sure he does a fantastic job tonight too,” Minikus said about Jorge.
Minikus and Quality Girl had strong finishes at the Inaugural Central Park Horse Show last year and were excited to return to see, first hand, the improvements that had made to the event. Minikus observed, “They have changed the format this year; the speed class goes first and they have fixed some of the lighting.” He continued, “Last year there were some shadows in the ring and this year they have better light and it seems to be working better for the horses.”
Minikus sensed that the speed class format would be a perfect warm up for Quality Girl going in to the $212,000 CSI 3* Grand Prix class tonight. “She felt fantastic last night,” Minikus said. He continued that his plan tonight was simple: “Just try to win!”
This show is the most recent in a long line of horse shows for Todd and his top string of show jumping horses this summer. Minikus and his team have racked up top finishes at all of the best shows around the world including Spruce Meadows in Canada, Hickstead in the United Kingdom, and Dublin, Ireland, as well as being named the Traveling Reserve to the United States Pan American Show Jumping team.
The Central Park Horse Show is comprised of five days of multi-discipline equestrian competition in the heart of New York’s Central Park. It features classes that include special Arabian horse presentations, Grand Prix Dressage and Show Jumping and Hunters. This year is also the inaugural year for U.S. Open competition, a concept the International Equestrian Group CEO, Mark Bellissimo, is hoping to expand with future events. Bellissimo was quoted at a recent press conference as saying, “We want this to be one of the greatest stops in show jumping. Bringing something to the market like this is very different and I think there is an amazing opportunity for the sport here.”
You can catch Todd and Quality Girl in action via live stream tonight at 8pm in the U.S. Open $212,000 FEI 3* Grand Prix, present by Rolex. Visit www.centralparkhorseshow.com for details. When Todd is not traveling, you can find him and his horses at home in Florida, just minutes away from the prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington.
Contact: Amanda Minikus
amandajl16@aol.com
562-762-3762
www.toddminikus.com