Christoph Koschel and Wrazzmatazz
Wellington, Fla. – March 7, 2017 – The Palm Beach Dressage Derby exhibition class, presented by Yeguada de Ymas, took place on Saturday, March 4, featuring riders competing at Small Tour level with unfamiliar horses to determine who could ride to the best score.
Round one was a match-up between defending champion Canadian rider Chris Von Martels and German rider Christoph Koschel, riding Truhana De Ymas, an 8-year-old PRE mare (Envidiado De Ymas x Nicaragua III) owned by Yeguada de Ymas S.L. Ultimately Koschel came on the top with a score of 69.605 percent, knocking the last year’s winner out of the competition. Juan Matute Guimon of Spain and Mikala Munter Gundersen of Denmark competed in round one on Action Ace, a 12-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (Ijsselmeer x Promised) owned by Janice Murdoch. Munter Gundersen won the round with a 69.474 percent.
Mikala Munter Gundersen and Wrazzmatazz
Koschel and Munter Gundersen advanced to the final knockout round of The Palm Beach Dressage Derby competition during the mid-way point of the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, with both riders piloting Wrazzmatazz, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding (Jazz x Madame x Darwin) owned by Sara Hellner.
The final round brought excitement to the Global Arena as Koschel rode a well-executed test, clinching the win with a score of 72.588 percent.
“This is always special in an atmosphere like this,” Koschel said. “I don’t know if this horse was ever in an atmosphere like this so you don’t know what you get or what you can expect. I think it was a perfect horse for this final because he was very, very honest and nice to ride, and it made it easier for both of us.”
Christoph Koschel and Wrazzmatazz
Koschel is no stranger to derby riding. He was the winner of the 49th Dressur-Derby of Hamburg, as well as the Munich Derby. Munter Gundersen also competed in the Hamburg Derby, finishing second.
“The horse has not been in an atmosphere like this before,” Munter Gundersen said. “I was happy that Chris went first, so if the horse was going to be spooky, [it was] with him and really nice with me! He was really great with both of us though, and I had a super clean test with only a few mistakes in my three-tempis. It takes a special horse to go in there with strange riders and be so nice.”
“This was the first time we had the derby under the lights,” Thomas Baur, Adequan Global Dressage Festival Director of Sport, concluded. “It was also the first time we used the Spectator Judging app for the overall result, and it worked out quite well. We are going to continue to do that and are looking forward to the coming years.”
Christoph Koschel and Wrazzmatazz
Mikala Munter Gundersen and Wrazzmatazz