WELLINGTON, Fla.--Michael Matz of Coatesville, Pa., on Cashew CR won the $150,000, CSI4* 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Final on Saturday evening, March 22 during the penultimate week of the Winter Equestrian Festival.

Alex Matz on Cashew CR (Photo by Sportfot)From a starting filed on 50, Matz won in a 15 horse jump-off with less than a half a second to spare over courses designed by Andy Christiansen of Ecuador.

After a season of consistent placings, Spencer Smith, who missed the Final as he had been competing in Ocala, won the 1.50m Championship Jumper Series overall title.

In the Final, Matz raced down the last line of the jump-off course to just beat Ireland’s Jordan Coyle on For Gold.

Matz finished clean in 35.31 seconds to Coyle’s 35.68, and Nayel Nassar of Egypt was third on Igor van de Wittemoere in 36.15 seconds.

Alex Matz, son of 1996 U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Micheal Matz, says every class on Cashew CR is a blessing.

“He is such a competitor and shows up at the biggest moments; he loves competing at night in front of a crowd,” said Matz. “It's a testament primarily to him, but also to the team behind me that has him in such good shape."

 

“I SAW Jordan Coyle go,he had a great round, and Nayel was behind me, but I knew that Cashew naturally has ground speed,” said Matz, 28. “If I rode my plan, I knew I had a chance, and it played out.”

For the overall Hermès 1.50m title, Smith was awarded a $10,000 Hermès store credit after most recently finishing third during the WEF 10 edition of the Hermès 1.50m Classic riding Tulara Colmine.

“Hermès is a great supporter of the sport and I'm very happy to be here,” said Smith, who rode several horses throughout the WEF season thanks to support from owners that include his family’s Ashland Farms, Donald Stewart, Georgina Bloomberg and Dennis Sisco. “Twelve weeks is a lot of jumping and to be in it every week with a few big results is tough, so it's great to be consistent. The level at WEF was really elevated this season with amazing riders. It gets better and better every year, and this year we had most of the top 10 in the world."

“Alex is one of my best friends and I'm really happy to see him win the final tonight,” said Smith.

Earlier in the evening, several special awards were presented as the 2025 WEF season nears its end.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to trainer, USEF judge and USHJA Zone 2 chef d’equipe Ralph Caristo.