Although he’s often described as “energetic” by his rider, there’s nothing brisk about how Harrie Smolders has produced longtime mount Monaco N.O.P. over the last seven years.
Slow and steady is a better motto for the gelding, who, today, is often the go-to horse of choice for Smolders in critical Nations Cup and World Cup Finals competitions.
Even still, his position on the Dutch Olympian’s string was never guaranteed. “So many promising horses between the ages of seven and 11 drop out for one or another reason,” Smolders told World of Show Jumping in 2022.
“Monaco is one of the very few horses who made it to the top, and I think it is because he has so much energy. He wants to do a good job and he always wants to be better.”
Fortunately for the 15-year-old Holsteiner co-owned by Smolders and Jennifer Gates’ Evergate Stables, he found himself on a team that believes in giving horses the time they need to mature—even when it takes a little longer than conventional wisdom dictates.
In fact, when Monaco joined Smolders’ string at the tender age of eight, the Cassini II son went back to basics. The gelding initially skipped the big classes with Smolders in order to gain confidence-building miles on the Sunshine Tour with Belgian rider Dimme D’Haese.
The following year, Gates herself took over the reins, campaigning Monaco at the 1.45m level and above, and even earning a sixth-place finish at Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Las Vegas in 2018.
After Gates left for medical school, her trainer Smolders took over the ride once again. But even then, Monaco wasn’t given top billing among the ranks of Zinius and Don VHP Z.
“I rode him competitively, but always as a second horse,” Smolders explained. “I never put him in the major classes because I did not feel he was ready.”
Things changed in 2021, when Smolders and Monaco led the Dutch to a gold medal-clinching performance at the Nations Cup Final in Barcelona. One year later, during a breakout season, they jumped 4/0 for the team in the FEI Nations Cup at CHIO Rotterdam and the FEI World Team Jumping Championships in Herning, helping the Dutch to gold and silver, respectively.
During the same period, they finished second in prestigious classes including the Rolex Grands Prix at the Dutch Masters and Geneva, and the FEI World Cup qualifier in London. They also earned second place at the 2022 Longines FEI World Cup Finals in Leipzig, a standout feat they repeated again in Omaha the following year.
Smolders and Monaco have also earned top placings at venues from Valkenswaard and Rome to Monte Carlo, London, and Prague, where they finished 5th in the 2023 Longines Global Champions Tour Super Grand Prix.
Now campaigning at the seasoned age of 15, Monaco N.O.P. has had the gift of time to let his true quality shine. His not-so-hidden talent? If those back-to-back World Cup Finals podium finishes were any indication, he’s a virtual consistency machine.
According to Jumpr, in 74 total rounds at 1.60m, Monaco retains a clear rate of 51%. At 73 starts at the same height, he finishes in the top 10 a highly respectable 60% of the time.
In terms of his legacy, all that consistency has more than paid off for Monaco. The gelding currently sits at no. 7 among the Top 10 Earning Horses of all time thanks to his more than $3,176,400 in prize money—all without ever winning a 1.60m grand prix.
He’s also no. 6 in the world for all-time podium finishes in *5 classes 1.60m and higher at 22—and counting.
All that is to say, sometimes slow and steady really does win the race.