Juan Matute Guimon Makes Triumphant Return To Wellington in 2022 Palm Beach Derby Kur

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2022 Palm Beach Dressage Derby

Spain’s Juan Matute Guimón marked a momentous day with a plus-80% victory in the Grand Prix Freestyle 4* at the 2022 Palm Beach Derby in Wellington, Florida, on Friday, March 4.

It was clear from Matute Guimón’s reaction at the final halt how much this performance meant to him. Aside from the pandemic hobbling competition and training opportunities for more than two years, the 24-year-old suffered a brain bleed in May 2020 followed by pneumonia and a long road to recovery.

Winner of the qualifying grand prix, Jan Ebeling (USA), had to settle for second with his talented 12-year-old mare Bellena. He posted 75.52% with some green mistakes. Germany’s Christoph Koschel slotted into third with Dünensee, chalking up 75.355%.

“It’s been quite an emotional comeback,” said Matute Guimón, “because the last time I was here was in 2020 with Don Diego trying to qualify for the Las Vegas World Cup Final. And then we all know what happened after that. Now I’m back, and I’m going all out. I want to do it all. I want to go to all of the shows, the European Championships, World Championships, World Cup Final, everything. I want to be in the top sport, and I must take every opportunity I can.”

Matute Guimón, who rides for Spain but holds U.S. citizenship as well, could hear the crowd clapping along at the end of his highly technical freestyle test, which he rode to music by Juanes and Bruno Mars that received a score of 80.190%. Quantico, a 16-year-old gelding by Fighting Fit, lit up.

“With horses as sensitive as Quantico they get really electric,” enthused Matute Guimón, who had only ever logged one score over 80% before. “And for the passage and piaffe, this is what we want to see, lots of activity. I had so much fun already, and to earn an 80% on top of that is mind-blowing. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep increasing the scores. That is always the goal. 81 or 82 or 83, who knows? But clean tests with more power, more cadence.”

Freakish Talent

“A freakish talent” is how Jan Ebeling describes Bellena, the 12-year-old daughter of Bellissimo M who he rode into second place. Originally bought for her owner Ann Romney to ride, Ebeling picked up the ride when they realized how talented she was.

“She’s a horse that can do stuff other horses just can’t,” he explained. “She’s an amazing athlete. Karen Robinson helped me with the choreography and the music, which is Piano Boys. It’s a relatively easy freestyle because she’s a green horse, and I don’t want to push her too much. But I’m thinking about adding in pirouettes in the piaffe and all that other stuff, because I gotta catch up with Juan!”

Koschel Premiers Dünensee

Third-placed Koschel was riding Dünensee, Diamante Farms’ 13-year-old gelding by Dancier, at his first CDI, performing their first freestyle and making their debut under lights. Koschel recently took over the rider from Spaniard Ivan Nieto, who rode the horse for Terri Kane at Hubertus Schmidt's yard in Germany.

“It’s all so new so he was a bit shy and a little nervous, but I think we handled it very well,” he said. “And I used [former top horse] Donnperignon’s freestyle, which is really difficult, so I think we have to practice it a little bit more. I’m very happy that he behaved so well, because I didn’t know how we would do under the lights.”

Judge Cesar Torrente (COL) was impressed with what he saw: “The first three places were really good,” he said. “Juan’s freestyle, the difficulty was amazing. Jan did a wonderful canter tour. Ballena is an amazing, powerful mare. Watch out, because that one has a lot of power and is a really high quality mare. And Christoph, of course, is a wonderful rider, and he performed to the best of his abilities. It was very good to see such high standard. I would say the choreographies were all good and the music was good, so it was very pleasant to judge.”