In only his second CDI outing of the 2014 show season with Don Diego, 16-year-old Spanish junior team rider Juan Matute Guimon conquered the Prix St. Georges presented at the 2014 CDI-W Wellington on Friday 24 January 2014. Matute Guimon and Don Diego won the class with a score of 71.421%.
Canadian Britney Fraser took second with All In with a final score of 70.684%, while Heather Mason (USA) and Zar were third with 70.421%.
Matute Jr. won the Intermediaire-I during the first week of competition in Wellington and was thrilled to pick up another small tour victory with Don Diego (by Don Frederico).
"It feels amazing. We were not expecting it!" Matute Jr. grinned. "We were just expecting to perform well, and of course getting a good score is always part of that, but our first goal was just to be good and to enjoy [the test] and create a stronger bond with each other. We had some mistakes in the threes, so a few parts of the canter were a bit messy, but I think the overall picture was great," he continued. "The contact was great; the frame was great."
Matute Guimon also picked up a blue ribbon earlier in the morning with Dhannie in the Junior Team Class. Juan admitted that both horses enjoy taking in the sights of the winner circle. "They like it. They like to win! They like the people clapping and the whole atmosphere of victory," he commented.
With the season in Wellington off to an exciting start, Matute now looks forward to the Nations Cup CDIO mid February. "My goal is to do well in the small tour this season in Wellington, and my goal by the end of the year is to move up to the Under 25 [classes]. We're going to do the Nations Cup, so that's one of the biggest goals for the small tour this season," Matute, Jr. outlined.
Matute spent two months in Germany training with Oliver Oelrich before returning home to Wellington to resume training with his father, Juan Matute, Sr. Junior enjoys having a trainer-student relationship that runs deeper than most.
"I love it. I get to ask questions 24/7. My dad sometimes wants to kill me at the dinner table because I keep asking questions and asking questions," Matute, Jr. laughed. "But I think it's great because besides having that relationship as father and son, we keep that relationship in the ring."
Photo © Sue Stickle
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI-W Wellington
Matute and Lane Take the Blue on Third Day of 2014 CDI-W Wellington