"He [Ulysses] has the most incredible personality. He's so friendly and he always tries his heart out," she said, overwhelmed by the victory in a field of 21 combinations which included seasoned campaigners such as the Queen of Hoy Show, Katie Laurie (nee McVean), multi-winner Maurice Beatson, Englishwoman Helen McNaught-McFarlane, Lucy Fell (nee Akers) and Olympian Clarke Johnstone, to name a few.
But the enormity of task in her second round didn't seem to weigh too heavily on the young shoulders of Tootill, who had the only unblemished jump in the first round as eight combinations returned for round two on eight faults (two dropped rails) or fewer on a shortened Werner Deeg-designed course.
It called for nerves of steel or, more appropriately Steele, and she didn't let down her show coach and accomplished equestrian Robert Steele, of Hawera.
"Robert has been my coach at the show for a while now so he's very cool, calm and collected himself and he's very, very handy to have on my team," Tootill said.
In the half-hour intermission, she said Steele told her if she didn't think she was capable then it was futile entering the ring again.
But it was no different to any other day for Tootill.
"You've got to go in to do it otherwise there's no point in trying," she said afterwards.
Her mental fortitude comes from her mother, Cindy Mitchener, who told the posse of photographers in the warm-up arena after the victory to freeze their shutters until she got into the frame.
"She likes to be in control but she doesn't know much about horses," Tootill said of Mitchener, who owns a recruitment company in Auckland and also is on the board of FMG.
The proud mother said she wasn't confident her daughter was going to upstage the big guns of showjumping.
"It's the first time she's been in the class and she's only 20 but she's been having a good show and he's a fantastic horse," said Mitchener, who immediately declared she was going to toast champagne to celebrate Tootill's victory.
"She has a very good support team in Katie Laurie, Jeff McVean and Robert Steele so they help her a lot," Tootill's mother added.
A grinning Steele, who coaches Tootill only when she ventures down but speaks regularly to her on the phone, was reluctant to steal the limelight: "I didn't do anything. She was the one who was riding.
"She was just a little worried. She just had to jump a little clear, really. The time was a little bit tight so that's why we had to keep on flowing."
Asked what Steele said to Tootill before she entered the ring for the second round, he replied: "Good luck."
Steele, who didn't compete in the Olympic Cup because his horse was still relatively young, said Ulysses performed well throughout the week.
Tootill said she wouldn't have competed had there been any risk in the persistent drizzle but felt it would have been much easier had the day followed the traditional Bay weather script.
No doubt the victory in the supreme class stamped her passport mentally to the realm of "yes I can".
With a six-hour drive and university studies to catch up on - she studies history with a minor in business law extra-murally at Massey University (Palmerston North) - Tootill wasn't going to get too carried away with celebrating last night.
So what is usually on the backburner?
"That one [studies], definitely that one, always," said Tootill, who jets off to Australia with the New Zealand senior team next week. "It's been a very big year for me."
For Tootill showjumping is about things happening or not any given day - and today it did.
She also thanked her father, Jon Tootill, horse co-owner Theresa Gattung, as well as the show organisers and her support crew, especially Steele, and sponsors Betavet and Emcee Apparel.
McNaught-McFarlane, on Carnutelabryere, and Beatson, aboard Mandalay Cove, were second and third, respectively, after four faults each.
