London, England – May 18, 2025 – The 2025 Royal Windsor Horse Show concluded today following four exceptional days of top-class equestrian sport. The highlight of the week, the €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI 5*, saw an outstanding performance from Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet (BEL) who stormed to victory to claim the prestigious title for the second time.
The CSI 5* showjumping concluded in a thrilling fight to the finish with the Rolex Grand Prix. Featuring 32 of the world’s best horse and rider combinations, Bernardo Costa Cabral’s (POR) up-to-height 1.60m course proved challenging, with many top riders, including double Olympic silver medalist Peder Fredricson (SWE), last year’s winner Martin Fuchs (SUI) and crowd favourite John Whitaker (GBR), incurring faults in the first round.
In total, nine combinations went forward to the jump-off against the clock, each vying for a share of the €500,000 prize fund. First into the arena was Kim Emmen (NED) 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 (SUI), a Pan-American Games team bronze medalist, who guided her bay gelding, Canto Bruno, to a steady but faultless round.
Ireland’s Billy Twomey (IRL) 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 (GBR), riding 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 (NED) following Charles into the arena and taking over the lead, with less than half-a-second splitting the two. Robert Whitaker (GBR) looked to be up with the pace aboard Vermento, but a wider turn to the penultimate fence put him behind Charles and he finished in eventual fourth, repeating his result of last year.
Last into the arena was Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet (BEL), a former winner of this class who finished second last year. The Olympic team bronze medalist 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.
A delighted Wathelet said: “The last four years competing at Royal Windsor has been really good; winning in 2022, coming second in 2024 and winning again this year – so I’m very happy. I really enjoy riding here, it’s a great show and the crowd are really supportive.”
Speaking about today’s competition, he continued: “I think the course today was very fair. It’s always an advantage to go at the end, you can see the results and see what route you should take. I saw everyone get faster and faster, but I knew my horse and his speed, I knew he likes going fast, so I took some risks, but you have to on a day like today.”
Runner-up Smolders added: “Royal Windsor is such a prestigious show with a great atmosphere. We’ve seen a massive Rolex Grand Prix class today with a good amount of clears – which is a sign of a great course designer. My horse, Monaco, has speed, but I felt like I could have gone a touch faster, and that was the difference between first and second.”
Final Results – €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI 5*
1) Gregory Wathelet (BEL) & Bond Jamesbond de Hay – 0 / 0 – 37.18
2) Harrie Smolders (NED) & Monaco – 0 / 0 – 37.24
3) Harry Charles (GBR) & Sherlock – 0 / 0 – 37.70
Source: Press Release by Niki McEwen / Revolution World for the Royal Windsor Horse Show
Photos: © RWHS / Peter Nixon
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Categories: CSI 5*, English, Jumper News Belgie
