Babalou, another star in USA’s flag

Bologna, March 2015 – Todd Minikus is a very happy man. Not only because yesterday he won the Grand Prix in Wellington Csio but also because of the performance of his ride Babalou: one Nations Cup, one Grand Prix, four clear rounds, twice in the first place… : simply amazing. “That was a nice week”, said Minikus yesterday night. “Quality Girl got the week off, and Babalou is starting to step up into the big leagues and she is doing a great job of it. I am very excited about her. I kind of took it easy with her at the beginning of the circuit and hopefully she can continue to be strong here at the end of the circuit. There are some bigger things coming, so I could not be happier. She has been fantastic”. Babalou is already 10 years old but she is quite new at this level of competition: “She was too exuberant about her jump when she was younger, so we had to tone it down a little bit, which is usually not the story”, Minikus detailed on Babalou’s development. “She always was a little bit of a fractious mare, and she has really calmed down now. She was always nervous about everything – the surroundings, the tractor, the water truck, that kind of thing, so now she barely notices that kind of stuff, which is just maturity”. Anthony D’Ambrosio (USA) was the course designer for international competition in Winter Equestrian Festival week eight in Wellington. In Sunday’s Csio Grand Prix, D’Ambrosio saw 49 starters with ten clear rounds. The top three U.S. entries were the only ones to jump double clear over the short course: 2nd place went to Elizabeth Patton Madden on Simon, 3rd came Meagan Nusz aboard Dynamo.

March 2, 2015