Sunday, 17 December 2023
Britain’s Ben Maher gave a masterclass in jump-off riding that claim today’s Longines FEI Jumping World Cup qualifier in style at the London International Horse Show at ExCel.
Brazillian course designer Guilherme Jorge had set a clever track befitting of the London leg of the World Cup series, featuring 13 obstacles with 16 jumping efforts and a number of fences at the maximum height of 1.60 metres. Riding Charlotte Rossetter, Pamela Wright and his own Enjeu de Grisen – who, at just nine years old, is relatively inexperienced at this level – Ben posted one of 11 clears from an original field of 35 starters.
France’s Julien Epaillard and Donatello d’Auge set the early pace in the jump-off, with a clear in 39.29 seconds, and he held the lead for a further five riders until Daniel Coyle, riding Legacy for Ireland, came in. Daniel rode some tight angles to shave off some time and stopped the clock just over half a second quicker to take prime spot. Sweden’s Peder Fredericson was next up and he gave it is all with new ride Hansson WL, but couldn’t quite match the Irish combination.
The penultimate pairing was last year’s winners, Scott Brash and Hello Jefferson, owned by Lady Pauline Harris and Lady Pauline Kirkham. The plucky bay gelding had looked in a competitive mood in the first round, so if they could leave the fences standing, it would be quick. Scott used Jefferson’s athleticism to the max with tight turns and cat-like jumping to go clear and stop the timing beam on 37.80 – the lead was theirs and the London crowds were guaranteed a home victory.
Last to go may have been the youngest horse, but his rider is a master of producing the goods when it matters most. Ben Maher already has a win and handy placings to his credit this week at the London International Horse Show, so has a good measure of the temporary arena at ExCel and cantered in with Enjeu de Grisien brimming with confidence. After a scan of the arena to visualise his turns, they set off. Ben rode with good pace, but it was the turns where he made good time – taking fences on the acutest of angles. At the check point, they were 0.04 seconds up on Scott and Jefferson – the tiniest of margins. They jumped the second last and let rip to the final fence – Ben never pushing the young horse out of where he was comfortable – and met the last spot on to clear it. The time flashed up as 37.18 seconds and the capacity crowd went wild to celebrate. In a sport where the margins are minimal, they’d done it with ease – if you can say 0.62 seconds is easy!
An elated Ben said; “I’m very proud. It sometimes takes a while to sink in and we’re here to do our job, and sometimes you don’t enjoy it as much as you should – I’ve learned that over the years. Now, we’ll take some time to enjoy it. I’ve got my family here and they don’t get to come with me every week for the rest of the year, so it’s special to win and win like this at home.
“It’s always tough with the sport how it is now. I may be wrong in saying this, but 10 or 15 years ago, I don’t think the speed was there like it is now. It’s the same every week – we go to such fine margins now and it’s important that the horses are naturally fast and athletic, and that we’re fit as riders. It’s not any different from any other week, but I know that Scott doesn’t mess around when he’s at home and that’s a very fast horse.”
And where did Ben feel he made up the time? “I did one less stride – it’s very simple. I jumped the first three jumps probably neck-and-neck with Scott, but I have a little bit more range. Enjeu is a small horse, but he can open into a very big stride very fast. He was able to do six strides down to the water tray, where some of the others did seven, and I think that gave me the edge,” he explained.
“It’s been a very difficult year for my team. I set off at the beginning of the year with a good win in Florida, then two days later I broke my shoulder and my arm was just hanging somewhere where it shouldn’t be. It was almost career-threatening, so I had to be very tough in the gym to come back from that after an operation – that was probably one of the toughest times I’ve had to go through. It’s been one of those hard-fought years, but we’ve dug deep and my horses have been incredible for me. It’s nice to finish the year like this. To win the World Cup here, for a British rider, is the dream – but to do it last to go in the jump-off like that is one of my best home wins that I can remember,” he summed up.
Runner-up Scott was pleased with his day; “I was actually very happy because Jefferson’s sort of been my main contender for the last two years, really – he’s been having to do the big shows by himself. After Calgary, where he jumped brilliantly, I gave him a break – but it was almost the worst thing I could have done because he lost a lot of muscle and it took a bit of time to get him back going again. At Geneva last week, he jumped good but maybe not as good as he can, but here he feels back on form. I’m very delighted that he’s back to where he can be.
“I don’t feel like I have the string of horses to do more World Cup legs – we’re really focused on the Olympic Games in Paris. Ben and Harry are on top form with great strings of horses, so I want to try and keep Jefferson in good condition and aim him for there. To do the World Cup Final would be a bit too much. I’ve got a lot of good up-and-coming young horses, so I want to spend some time with them and try to build a bigger group of horses to get to the top level,” he reflected.
The win today catapults Ben to top of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Western European League over compatriot Harry Charles, who won the previous leg in La Coruña in early December. Ben has 72 points and Harry sits on 55 points, while Scott enters the top 18 with his second place today to lie 17th on 25 points. The next leg is in Mechelen in Belgium, which starts on Boxing Day.
Full results: Longines Timing