Ben Maher wins in Windsor

It is certainly one of the absolute traditional tournaments in the United Kingdom. The Queen herself also describes it as "one of my absolute favorite tournaments." The knowledgeable audience at the Castle Arena was not disappointed. With a home win by multi champion Ben Maher, the weekend was perfect. Windsor was considered one of the last tests of form before the Olympic Games. For this, the international course director Bernardo Costal Cabral conjured up a challenging but doable course at a height of 160cm. A total of 29 pairs competed, 10 of which reached the jump-off.

In the jump-off itself, Britain's "Rising Star" Harry Charles, who will also travel to Tokyo as a reserve participant, set a great time at the start of the jump-off. But international top pairs like the Swede Henrik von Eckermann with King Edward or also Martin Fuchs with his top horse Clooney undercut the time. For a long time it looked as if Fuchs would be the winner, but Ben Maher and his incredible explosion are always to be reckoned with. In an absolutely fast-paced jump-off, the pair came out on top of the field. Swiss number 1 Steve Guerdat tried to beat the time, but only made it to 2nd place.

After his victory, Maher announced: “I’ve said it before, but Explosion is just incredible, he helped me out a bit today, but he jumps better faster and he was fantastic. Royal Windsor is such a special show, it hasn’t been my luckiest show in the past, so it’s nice to finally win here in front of my owners and in front of a British crowd, and in the Queen’s back garden. It doesn’t get any better than that.“