Edited press release from Royal Windsor Horse Show

Holly Smith’s striking chestnut Fruselli (Zambesi x Karandasj) made it two from two taking Saturday's CSI5* Falcon Stakes in style, on the back of an impressive win in yesterday’s Pearl Stakes. The 1.50m class was run over two rounds, with the top 10 riders from round one going through to a jump-off.

As second to go in the jump-off, Jack Whitaker and Elucar V.E. (Cardento 933 x Lupicor) set the standard, jumping clear in a time of 38.99 seconds, however it was Jessica Springsteen on Hungry Heart (Baltimore 1178 x Loucaibo) who was the first to pull out all the stops to take the lead in an impressive 36.09 seconds. 

Springsteen’s lead was short-lived as following her into the famous Castle Arena was Britain’s Holly Smith – full of confidence following her Olympic selection – who shaved off valuable seconds, leaving out strides in the distances and making the tightest of turns to come home in an unbeatable time of 34.10. Israel’s Daniel Bluman put in a great effort to finish second aboard the 11-year-old gelding Colestina H (Colestus x Cardenio 2), just 0.02 seconds faster than Springsteen in eventual third.

Speaking after her victory, Smith was full of praise for her horse: “Fruselli is very willing, very genuine and very forward going, he’s just a great type of guy. Once I’d done [jumps] one to two in seven strides instead of eight, I knew I was going to be able to keep galloping at the fences and keep turning and he’d be fine.” Holly continued, “It’s great to be back here at Windsor, you can tell everyone is so pleased to be here and really enjoying it, it’s such a great atmosphere.”