Picking up where he left off at the London International Horse Show of 2021, young British showjumper Harry Charles scored in the very first class of 2022, the Voltaire Design Under 25 British Championship.
Harry teamed up with a relatively new mare to his string, the 11-year-old Chavira (Chacco-Blue x Calvaro FC) to win after a six-way jump-off, where he was joined by his two sisters Scarlett and Sienna. With fourth-placed Robert Murphy riding Peter Charles’s brilliant eight-year-old Lightning TW, it was a fantastic morning for the Charles family.
“That feels good, I’ve been trying to win this class for seven years now,” said Harry, 23, who won the World Cup qualifier and the grand prix at last year’s show. “So it’s nice to have finally done it. My strategy was to try to win! I thought Robert Murphy was probably my one to watch – he works a lot with us and our team, so I know his riding inside out. I knew he was on a very fast horse and he’s a very fast rider. So when he had one down I thought I could take it a bit easier.”
Chavira came to the Charles family stables in the summer after Peter spotted her potential and went back to basics with the mare, schooling her himself.
“She belongs to Stall Zet and hadn’t been doing much,” said Peter. “I said to the owner that I thought she could be alright – I just needed some time to get the control. So I fiddled about, I just taught her to go backwards and forwards to get the control, and got her jumping really good.”
His daughter Sienna started riding her and then Harry swapped his London World Cup-winning ride Stardust for the mare and this is only their fourth show together, while Sienna now rides Stardust.
“Chavira will jump 1.70m, she’s a little fighter, feisty and she was just misunderstood,” said Peter. “We haven’t used her much, but Harry took her to Hubside and won a really good ranking class. She’s quick, but she’s better than a speed horse – I think Harry could win the Hickstead Derby or the Hamburg Derby on her because she’s brave and can jump all the funny stuff. A good, fast speed class wouldn’t worry her because she’ll go like the clappers, she could win a six-bar and she could win a grand prix one day, too. Then if you’re stuck for a Nations Cup, you could pull her out for that. The mare is what you want in the string – she’s a great leg of the chair.”
‘I’m proud of her today’: Harry Charles on his London Horse Show winning ride
Talking about his winning round in the under 25 championship at London Horse Show, Harry, who was drawn third of the six riders, said: “She has very little experience against the clock, which you could probably see in my round. So I just wanted to take care of her and not ask her all the questions and hoped it would be enough.
“I think we’ve formed a good partnership so far. I think you’ll see a lot more of her in 2023 – she’s got a lot of potential, she just needs the experience – but I’m proud of her today for doing this.
“If anyone was going to beat me today, I’d have liked it to have been my sisters,” added Harry. “They’ve both had a difficult couple of years with injuries so it’s good to see them back going strong and I think you’ll see more of them next year. I think my Dad’s proud enough today.”
Taking second with a double clear just 1sec slower than Harry, was Leonie Aitkenhead riding the 10-year-old mare Heart-Third. Emma Crawford claimed third, just a fraction slower on Dukes Of Hazzard.
Talking about returning to the London Horse Show, where he landed an incredible hat-trick of international classes last year and finished runner-up in the Voltaire Design under-25 British Championship, Harry said: “It seems pretty impossible to repeat what I did last year but I’ll give it a good go! Last year was a dream come true, so I’m just going to enjoy it. Whatever happens I’m proud of.
“I love to start the show strong, it’s how I mean to go on. Let’s hope it continues for the week.”
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