Harrys Charles Claims a Podium Placing in the Rolex Grand Prix at the Royal Windsor Horse Show
Wednesday 21 May 2025
The 2025 Royal Windsor Horse Show concluded following four exceptional days of top-class equestrian sport, with the highlight of the week being the CSI5* Rolex Grand Prix, which concluded in a thrilling fight to the finish.
Featuring 32 of the world’s best horse and rider combinations, Bernardo Costa Cabral’s up-to-height 1.60m course proved challenging, with many top riders, including double Olympic silver medallist Peder Fredricson, last year’s winner Martin Fuchs and crowd favourite John Whitaker, incurring faults in the first round.
In total, nine combinations went forward to the jump-off against the clock, including four British riders – Harry Charles, Robert Whitaker, Joe Stockdale and Ben Maher - each vying for a share of the €500,000 prize fund. First into the arena was Kim Emmen riding Imagine N.O.P., her ride at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, however four faults left the door ajar for the remainder of the field. The first clear round came from Eve Jobs, a Pan American Games team bronze medallist, who guided her bay gelding, Canto Bruno, to a steady but faultless round.
Ireland’s Billy Twomey stepped up the pace, taking almost three seconds off Jobs’ time, however his lead was short lived as Britain’s reigning Olympic team champion, Harry Charles, riding Peter Charles and Stall Zet’s Sherlock, made up another two seconds to take the pole position at the half-way point, much to the delight of the home fans.
The standard kept improving as the round went on, with Harrie Smolders following Charles into the arena and taking over the lead, with less than half-a-second splitting the two. Robert Whitaker looked to be up on the pace aboard Caroline and Stephen Blatchford’s Vermento, but a wider turn to the penultimate fence put him behind Charles who would finish third and he finished in eventual fourth, repeating his result of last year. Joe Stockdale and Ben Carus’ Its Confidential tapped out two rails to finish ninth whilst Ben Maher and Point Break, owned my Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright, unfortunately parted ways following a fall at the last fence, but both walked out of the arena in one piece.
Last into the arena was Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet, a former winner of this class who finished second last year. The Olympic team bronze medallist set off meaning business aboard Bond Jamesbond de Hay, making the tightest of turns and with an impressive gallop down to the final Rolex oxer to shave 0.06 seconds off Smolders’ time and take the victory.
Image: Royal Windsor Horse Show / Peter Nixon
