May 17, 2026 
One by one they fell.
Ok, that might be a bit dramatic. In fact, no one fell at all, but what they did do is score a consistent four faults, with some putting in eight, ten, and some others opting to retire.
The Royal Windsor Horse Show, one of the greatest international horse shows in the world, welcomed not only its ponies and hunters and cobs, its Arabs and Thoroughbreds and carriage horses, but some of the highest-ranked international show jumpers this week at the grounds of Windsor Castle.
In a five-star Grand Prix with 34 starters, we find more than half the names among the top 50 in the world. And one by one they fell.
Christian Kukuk, world number 8: four faults
Nina Mallevaey, world number 6: four faults
Nicola Philippaerts, world number 15: four faults
Henrik von Eckermann, world number 46: four faults
Laura Kraut, world number 11: four faults
Harry Charles, world number 45: four faults
Daniel Coyle, world number 17: four faults
Martin Fuchs, world number 32: four faults
Richard Vogel, world number 3: eight faults
Scott Brash, world number 2: eight faults
Harrie Smolders, world number 13: eight faults
Daniel Deusser, world number 18: eight faults
Lillie Keenan, world number 34: ten faults
Steve Guerdat, world number 9: 12 faults
Add Kevin Staut, world number 41 with 20 faults and retirements from world number 20 Gregory Wathelet (last year’s winner) and world number 30 Pieter Devos!
What wicked wind blows there in Windsor?
Ah, well, we know the vagaries of our sport. One day you’re a winner and on all other days you’re a fault-accumulating lumberjack. This, apparently, is especially true on the grounds of the Royal Windsor Horse Show, with a course designed by Portugal’s Bernard Costa Cabral. He’s deployed his tests well, alternating large airy oxers with fragile skinnies and verticals (there goes the plank again, and that vertical after the triple combination!).
And what’s with that triple bar? Is it the dull colors, black and gray, or how it comes after a rollback or how it’s right smack up against the stands? Because I’ve never seen a triple bar so consistently knocked down.
We get early disappointments. Where’s Hello Folie? We know she’s on the grounds, we’ve seen her. Instead we get Hello Mango and eight faults. Kukuk gets a rail, Henrik gets a rail, Deusser and Guerdat clatter rails to the ground, and two Whitakers, crowd favorites, fail to make the jump off.
The first half the of the class gives us three clears: one from just-out-of-the-top-50 Victor Bettendorf (no. 55), Saudia Arabia’s Abdullah Al-Sharbatly (no. 47), and Sienna Charles, sister of Harry (no. 267).
No matter. We await the second half of the class, with eleven of the world’s top 50 plus another Whitaker!
Oh. Well. Kraut starts us off with a rail. Nina gets one too, but smartly accelerates for the fastest four-fault time. Nicola Philippaerts follows her, both with a rail and with the second-fastest four-fault time. Vogel breaks the commentator’s heart with 8 faults—there’s no one like Vogel in a jump off, he reflects sadly after the first rail.
And the favorite, former two-time winner of this same Grand Prix, Martin Fuchs, lands a pole on the ground with former 2023 winner Connor Jei.
But Harry Charles isn’t going to sit back while his sister makes the podium, is he? Well, yes he is—he kindly knocks rail. Daniel Coyle also gives us a four-fault score.
What about last year’s winner, Gregory Wathelet? He retires not out of necessity, but very early when he realizes a clear round will not be got.
But do not fear—we have a couple of riders from the UK determined not to let all results fly out the door. First, Ben Maher puts in a flawless round with Point Break and Matthew Sampson rides absolutely every stride, exhausting himself for a triumphant clear round.
Smolders, second on the podium last year, ends his run with rails on the ground, another Whitaker retires, and we are set for the jump off with five clear rounds.
It seems a shoo-in for world number 4, Ben Maher, and his magnificent stallion Point Break. The commentators announce it as if it were already done. But before we put the results in the books, we better let the jump off run!
First up is Victor Bettendorf with 10-year-old gelding Qwando van de Rispen. His is a tight, fast round, coming in at 37.41, but no one’s really watching, because everyone thinks Maher has it in the bag.
Al-Sharbatly isn’t leaving anything on the course—well, except for those two rails—he gives it his all, but lands in fifth.
Sienna Charles is reasonable. Reasonable at 44.03, making certain of the clear.
And there he is, the presumptive winner. Maher and Point break are lightning-fast around the course, but—their time is 38.26! Behind Bettendorf!
If Maher isn’t going to win it, could it be the other Brit in the jump off? There’s no way this guy, Matthew Sampson, isn’t going to give it his all, here in his home country, under the eyes of the Royals in attendance (there are many), under the eyes of the peasants live-streaming (here I am).
But he beats neither Bettendorf’s nor Maher’s time, and knocks a rail to boot.
And there’s Bettendorf on the top of podium, Qwando van de Rispen bedecked in the iconic green Rolex cooler. To his right, in second, Maher, and to his left, in third, Sienna Charles.
Mr. Moustache. That’s what Qwando is called in the barn. Later, he writes on social media (Bettendorf I mean, not Mr. Moustache): “Qwando van de Rispen, aka our very special Mr. Moustache, wins the Rolex Grand Prix of Windsor. So proud of this horse who never stops giving, always fighting, and keeps amazing us every single time he steps into the ring!”
He adds, just to remind us all to get off the couch and attend in person (as I did last year, and long to do again): “Told you it was our favorite show of the year!”
