Charlotte Jorst and Longtime Partner Kastel’s Nintendo Ride to Victory in CDI-W Short Grand Prix to Kick Start AGDF 5

Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 10, 2022 – Competition at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival was stiff in Thursday’s CDI-W Short Grand Prix as part of the series’ fifth week. Eleven decorated horse-and-rider pairs fought for top honors. The colorful lineup included multiple Olympians and even a sibling combination with Spain’s Paula and Juan Matute Guimón. However, it was Charlotte Jorst and Kastel’s Nintendo that triumphed with a score of 72.579%, earning valuable FEI World Cup qualifying points in the process.

Charlotte Jorst and Kastel's Nintendo
Charlotte Jorst and Kastel’s Nintendo

The Short Grand Prix was first instituted in the late 1990’s, but the idea was abandoned until its adoption for the 2020/21 World Cup season. The fast pace of the Short Grand Prix provides for a more entertaining spectator experience, but it also demands flawless harmony between horse and rider because of the close distance between each movement. Overall, the new Grand Prix format has been well received by international competitors in the last two years.

Jorst sailed to victory with a score of 72.579%. Her longtime partnership with her 19-year-old KWPN stallion Kastel’s Nintendo was her asset in a test that required clear communication between horse and rider. Jorst and Kastel’s Nintendo have a long list of achievements in the international Grand Prix, representing the USA in numerous Nations Cup competitions and CDIs around the world. Just last year, the pair earned their personal best Grand Prix Freestyle score of 79.105% during the CDIO5* in Aachen, Germany. Looking ahead, Jorst is hopeful to go to the FEI World Cup Dressage Finals in Leipzig, Germany, as well as the World Equestrian Games to be held in her home country of Denmark later this year.

In second place was Canada’s Brittany Fraser on her and her husband’s 17-year-old KWPN gelding All In. The Olympian, Pan-Am silver medalist, and World Equestrian Games team rider competed with All In successfully at Aachen and Wellington in 2021 with scores consistently in the 70s. The duo scored a 71.895% to take home the red ribbon. 

Brittany Fraser and All In
Brittany Fraser and All In

Rounding out the top-three was Spain’s Juan Matute-Guimón with his father’s 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Quantico, with a score of 70.447%. Thursday’s test marked the first time Matute-Guimon competed in Wellington since his near-fatal brain bleed in 2020. After a long road to recovery, he returned to the international arena in Hagen, Germany, with Quantico just a little over a year later and has been unstoppable on the world stage ever since.

Juan Matute-Guimon and Quantico
Juan Matute-Guimon and Quantico

Competition at the AGDF will resume on Friday with the FEI World Cup Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle taking place at 3:15 p.m. and the CDI4* FEI Grand Prix Freestyle at the Friday Night Stars starting at 7 p.m. 

FROM THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Charlotte Jorst – CDI-W Short Grand Prix winner

On the test:
“He just felt incredible. He just gets better and better over time. He loves to go in there and he’s excited to be here. He’s just happier than a clam. The passage is his highlight and also the two pirouettes with the ones in between are where he shines. He’s so straight in those one tempis that the pirouettes line up so well. Things just happen one after the other in this test, so he really has to be on.”

Charlotte Jorst and Kastel's Nintendo
Charlotte Jorst and Kastel’s Nintendo

On keeping keeping Nintendo fit:
“I trail ride him all the time, he loves it. Every single time we go out for fifteen or twenty minutes four times a week, and he’s out seven days a week, and he loves that. I always have to ride him first because I enjoy it so much”

On her future goals:
“I’ll definitely go and do the five star and the derby to qualify for the World Cup. It would be incredible for me to go to the World Equestrian Games because I’m from Denmark, but I’m just taking it one day at a time and enjoying every minute of him and of the partnership we have just because it is so incredibly special.”

On the short Grand Prix:
“It’s fun to do something different. I love the canter depart and up the centerline and then the zig-zag. I think it’s kind of nifty.”

On the freestyle:
“I’m doing the same freestyle tomorrow as the one I did in Aachen. He has a pirate on his bonnet, so he’s all set.” 

Results: CDI-W Short Grand Prix

Place / Rider / Country / Horse / Owner / Total Score
1. Charlotte Jorst / USA / Kastel’s Nintendo / Kastel Denmark / 72.579%
2. Brittany Fraser / CAN / All In / Marc-Andre Beaulieu & Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu / 71.895%
3. Juan Matute Guimón / ESP / Quantico / Juan Matute Azpitarte / 70.447%
4. Anna Buffini / USA / FRH Davinia La Douce / Anna Buffini / 70.316%
5. Yvonne Losos de Muñiz / DOM / Aquamarijn / Yvonne Losos de Muñiz & Sylvia Ines Muñiz Losos / 69.263%
6. Jan Ebeling / USA / Status Royal Old / Ann Romney / 68.579%
7. Paula Matute Guimón /  ESP / Delagronge / Paula Matute Guimón / 67.184%
8. Ashley Holzer / USA / Havanna 145 / Diane Fellows / 66.105%
9. Hope Cooper / USA / Hot Chocolate W / Mary Mansfield / 65.632%
10. Amina Bursese / USA / Fiti AL / Amina Bursese / 63.789%
11. Evi Strasser / CAN / Disney Tyme / Evi Strasser / 60.263%

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