Harry Charles and Bandit continued their flying recent form as they won the ClipMyHorse.TV tankard at the Royal International Horse Show.
Harry and the 11-year-old held their lead from seventh of 56 starters to triumph in this two-phase competition, which came hot on the heels of their brace of wins in Valkenswaard.
“He’s on a hat-trick; we’ll have to start calling him Mbappé!” Harry said, referring to the golden boot winner at the 2026 football World Cup.
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“I’m very happy as he’d been knocking on the door but we’d have one down, from my mistake or his, but now the penny’s dropped a bit, and he’s very easy when he’s on form.”
Harry said these classes are among the hardest to win as there are only five or six fences in the jump-off phase, so there is not as much scope to take time off. But he and the Irish-bred gelding owned by father Peter and Stall Zet made every turn count, the compact, agile Bandit showing all his speed and scope.
“You have to be pretty much perfect in these classes and take the first distance everywhere, and actually my first one didn’t come up, but he’s so fast, I just tried to be smooth,” Harry said. “That’s how he’s fast; if I try to take too many strides out, it can be a bit stop-start. It’s like cruise control, I have to set it high from the start and try not to break it, just keep the pace and ride the correct lines.’
Bandit sustained an injury in late 2024 and had nearly a year out, then started jumping small classes at the end of last year.
“He’s pretty much come right back to where he left off, if not better,” Harry said. “He’s a bit of a Swiss Army knife; he doesn’t spook, he’s extremely brave and super-fast. I haven’t done a five-star grand prix with him, although I wouldn’t rule it out, but classes like this are his bread and butter. He’s on about 60% of his tank, he finds it easy and it gives him confidence. I’m very lucky to have him.”
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