Alex Matz didn’t win every five-star class at the 2024 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, but he won most of the big ones.
The American’s winning week started with Wednesday’s 1.45m Strength & Speed Competition and Friday’s 1.50m Centennial Cup. He picked up both five-star wins on his long-time partner, Cashew CR.
On Saturday, he capped his stellar week with a victory in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup of Toronto. Aboard Ikigai, Matz topped a five-horse jump off that included McLain Ward on his Olympic partner Ilex and Tiffany Foster on rising star Electrique to claim the biggest win of his career.
“I’m extremely happy! I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet, but I’m really proud of my horse. I’m really proud of my team and I’m really honored to be in this position with two incredible riders behind me and so many good riders in the field,” said the 28-year-old son of U.S. Olympian and Hall of Famer Michael Matz.
“It’s my first five star [1.60m win], so it’s for sure the biggest one.”
The victory is Matz’s first Grand Prix win—period—and the high point of his best season to date.
Matz has landed on 11 five-star podiums in his career. Almost half of those finishes (five) were earned in the past five months. He made his championship debut at the Longines League of Nations last month, helping Team USA to a sixth place finish.
And his two top horses are having the best seasons of their careers.
At age 16, long-time partner Cashew has been in Matz’s string for eight years. This season, they’ve won just shy of $232k—more than 50% of the Holsteiner gelding $527,375 career earnings, according to Jumpr Stats.
They’ve also improved their top 10 finish average by 6 points, from a career average of 47% to 53% in his 17 appearances at 1.50m–1.60m heights this year.
Eleven-year-old KWPN stallion Ikigai is trending even higher.
Purchased for Matz three years ago and sidelined by injury for much of 2023, the stallion has returned to have his strongest season yet. They’ve earned over $170k since January and jumped to two podium finishes in 5* Grands Prix—a third place finish in the Hampton Classic in September and the win in Toronto.
“I’ve always thought the world of him,” said Matz.
“He’s come back better than I could have ever, ever imagined. So I’m really proud for him because I think I probably told everybody how good of a horse he was. But I think a lot of people didn’t believe me until, well, until recently. And now, he’s proved it.”
And so has Matz.
Daniel Bluman current tops the North American League standings on 37 points, followed by Kristen Vanderveen on 35 and Kent Farrington on 30. The NAL next stops in LA, November 24.