Five star Rome CSIO (23-26 May) once more proved successful for Robert Smith who finished with an impressive third on his talented mare Voila in the Rome Grand Prix, one of the world’s most coveted show jumping contests. With 14 horses in the jump-off and Robert third to go, he elected for a steady clear which ultimately proved a wise decision to clinch a very respectable third. For a while, he held on to the top spot until Nick Skelton took the risky ‘victory or nothing’ approach to win the class, with Italy’s Emanuele Gaudiano in second. Robert had already notched up an earlier win on Balourado in the two phase class.
Chef d’equipe, Rob Hoekstra said, “Robert’s horse (Voila) jumped a perfect first round and then repeated it in the jump-off.”