Ben Maher came tantalisingly close to a Longines FEI World Cup Final win in Switzerland with his new superstar Point Break but has to settle for second place
Monday 07 April 2025
Ben Maher came close to a Longines FEI World Cup Final win in Basel, Switzerland, with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s talented Point Break but the clever tactics played by the winner, France’s Julien Epaillard, paid off spectacularly.
With the majority of the world’s best lined up to bid for this prestigious Final, Swiss course-designer Gerard Lachat had his work cut out to set a fitting track, but he succeeded with a strong but delicate full 1.60m track with technically demanding lines and elements in his Table C speed course for the opening leg, utilising airy fences and shallow cups, placing the onus on jumping rather than pure speed.
Fourteen partnerships returned clean rounds, but it was Julien who laid down the gauntlet. Robert Whitaker and his Helsinki winner Vermento sacrificed speed to negotiate all the fences safely without troubling the leaders to finish in 14th place. Julien set out at a formidable pace and hit cruise control to allow the agile Donatello D’Auge to run and jump.
Ben presented the biggest threat to his lead on the 11-year-old stallion Point Break (Action-Breaker x Balou Du Rouet). Although nursing a broken foot, Ben masterfully negotiated the track in typically silky-smooth fashion to come within 0.13 seconds of the time to slip into second place on the podium. The USA’s World Cup debutante Lillie Keenan used her late draw to take third on the 11-year-old Kick On – bred in Britain at Brendon Stud in Pyecombe, Sussex.
Although struggling to walk, Ben was modestly dismissive of the potential handicap his broken foot – sustained a week earlier in Wellington, USA, in a non-horse related incident – presented.
“Point Break felt confident and relaxed, which is really important for him. There’s a long way to go, but I’m really proud of him. It’s his first championship test and he feels ready,” said Ben, after the first leg.
A fence down in the second leg over a 14-fence, 17-effort course denied them a jump-off place and left the door open for Julien to strengthen his overnight lead, and this is where tactics came into play. Working out the maths and pushing his competitive spirit aside, Julien realised none of his five jump-off rivals could match his total points even if they were to win the second leg, and he opted to withdraw, take sixth place and save Donatello for Sunday’s final for the best 30 athletes.
Following the second leg, athletes’ points were converted into penalties with Julien Epaillard sitting at the top on a zero score. The penalties were calculated by multiplying the difference between their total points and that of the leader by a coefficient of 0.50. Winner of leg two on Leone Jei, Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs – winner of the 2022 FEI World Cup Final – was two points behind Julien t share second place with Sweden’s 2024 FEI World Cup Final victor Henrik von Eckermann. It was tight at the top as on three penalty points stood Ben alongside France’s Kevin Staut and The USA’s Lillie Keenan in equal fourth, promising a tense, exciting Final.
Course-designer Gerard Lachat set two beautifully presented courses for the Final featuring a number of intricately designed fences featuring Swiss cultures and traditions. His courses were strong but fair tests that demanded careful planning, focus and concentration with little opportunity for a breather, but nonetheless were not punishing.
Ben was one of 10 clear rounds produced in Round A of the final leg, but such was the intensity of pressure at the sharp end of the competition, only four of the final 20 delivered a faultless performance in Round B and these didn’t include any of the top eight at this stage. Point Break was looking good under Ben’s guidance but just breathed on the final element of the ornate Cherry Blossom combination to finish on a total of seven faults – leaving the door ajar for Julien – but he could only afford to have one fence down.
The incredible little gelding gave it his best shot for Julien and was clear on the approach to the final line. However, so many rounds had fallen apart here, and an extra stride between nine and 10 made the three strides down to 11a a little on the flat side, and despite their best efforts, a rub here saw Julien and Donatello make their first fault of the week. They still had two jumping efforts to go, but with nerves of steel, they cleared each one to award Julien his first World Cup Final victory.
“I lost concentration and came to deep to the double, if I’d helped him a little more, I could have jumped double clear – I need to take this experience from this mistake – I’m still green,” said Julien.
Ben was philosophical in his reflection of his performance over the week and the final result: “I’m a little disappointed, a small mistake from myself on Friday meant I didn’t get it done enough early on and put myself on the back foot with no room for error. Point Break deserved a little more from me, maybe a little more support going in there, but I can’t ask any more of the horse. Today he jumped perhaps the best he’s ever jumped – fluent and confident. It just didn’t go our way in the end. Julien is an incredible competitor and hard to beat on any given day, so congratulations to him.”
Credit: FEI/Benjamin Clark
