Ben Maher scores his first big win with the promising Maddox Van Het Haringvliet Z on his first visit to Chard Equestrian
Monday 20 July 2026
Ben Maher gave a masterclass to win the Chedington Equestrian 3* Grand Prix at Chard Equestrian with smooth, deceptively quick lines on rising star Maddox VH Haringvliet Z by a considerable margin.
“He’s a big horse with a great brain and one of the nicest in the stable. This is his first big win and we’re going to enjoy it,” said Ben, who also enjoyed his first visit to Chard Equestrian – “A great place, good food and with great people who try really hard – Jane [Gregory] and her team of organisers deserve the thanks. I had my kids here and it was lovely to have a place where they could get out of the sun. I was very happy to support this show – good courses and good sport and my horses learned a lot here; it was a high standard and there were no easy wins.”
Twenty-seven riders set out over course-designer Olaf Peterson Jr’s 13-fence, 16-effort 1.55m track and, asking subtle but effective questions, it reduced them to a perfect eight for the jump-off.
“The courses were difficult but in a good way and the Grand Prix was tall, big and technical; I honestly thought there’d only be five clears,” assessed Ben.
Carron Nicol posted a competitive standard in the opening draw with the nine-year-old RRH Out of the Blue (Plot Blue x Livello). Nonetheless, two horses later, Ben was tighter and quicker on Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s nine-year-old Maddox VH Haringvliet Z (Monte Bellini x Ogano Sitte), taking advantage of the long run to the final oxer to wipe 6.68 seconds off the time. Tim Gredley gave Medoc De Toxandria a nice trip to slot into third with Sally Goding’s final effort taking fourth on Red Head. Alexander Bragg made up the top five with the only other double clear aboard Hegglelane Houston.
“I didn’t expect to win with such a big margin, but I went early and don’t like not being fast enough and expected the others to come much closer. I can’t remember the last time I won by such a big margin,” said Ben. “Maddox is an amazing, very promising, but last year he had a horrible time, and he missed the best of the whole year. He’d jumped well in Aachen, but he wasn’t quite right. We eventually found out there was something wrong with his stomach and under a specialist, he had a lot of treatment which took a long time. We weren’t sure he was ever going to make a comeback.
“He took a massive step and jumped at Aachen and St Gallen this year, and this show at Chard was ideal for him to be at a level where he needs to be to show what he can do. He’s nine but lost so much last year. On Friday he was second. There was a couple of turns that were for a more experienced horse and he just hung a lot, but the Grand Prix was more free-flowing and we were quicker.”
Dinard in two weeks time is next on the agenda for Maddox – “There’s no rush, I’ll pick and choose the shows for him, he doesn’t need to be pushed. I think he’s got what it takes and I’ll try to produce him to be ready for next year,” added Ben.
Mark Edwards topped the world ranking 3* 1.50m with the Diarado 11-year-old Dillinger NE, last year’s 3* Grand Prix winner, pushing Ben and Maddox into second. Ten of the original 52 starters reached the jump-off, Mark speeding ahead to claim a 0.70 second advantage. Laura Renwick jumped Marseille into third and Mark also picked up fourth with the fastest four faults on Tinkers Touch.
Iwan Carpenter was on form all week to notch up four wins to his credit. His best came in the world ranking 3* 1.50m with Merllyns Chacco B, the Chacco Blue x Contendro I 16-year-old flying ahead to win by 0.78 seconds. Laura Renwick and Marseille jumped into second.
Iwan started the week off with a win, heading the 1* Silver Tour 1.20m two-phase with more than two seconds to spare on the seven-year-old mare Ramiro Dollar (Ramiro B x Carnaval Drum). He followed up with victory in the initial Seven-year-old 1.35m two-phase aboard the home-bred Merllyns Special Illusion (I’m Special De Muze x Burggraaf) with 2.13 seconds to spare and finished the final day with a win in the 1* Silver Tour Accumulator. The eight-year-old Casella Nova stepped up to the plate for Iwan here, the fastest by 0.37 seconds of three on a maximum score.
Joe Trunkfield claimed three wins, including clinching victory in the concluding 3* 1.40m two-phase in the final draw, racing ahead on the 10-year-old Cashallco (Casallco x Kannan) to relegate Laura Renwick’s NFS Top Gun by 0.13 seconds. The eight-year-old Starbux (Big Star x Darco) doubled up in the 1* Gold Tour series for Joe, edging ahead in day one’s two-phase by 0.17 seconds and Saturday’s eight-strong jump-off with 0.65 seconds to spare. On both occasions Adam Ellery had to settle for second on the Eldorado VD Zeshoek 11-year-old Kai Chic, but the consistent pair eventually claimed their own win in the final day’s 10-strong jump-off with a 0.78 second advantage over Iwan Carpenter’s Ramiro Dollar.
Joe was in contention with two rides for the 3* 1.40m but eventually had to settle for second and third as Sandy McLean posted the quickest round of the nine-horse jump-off. Sandy galloped to victory on the eight-year-old Kilcoltrim Diamond (Diamant De Semilly x Obos Quality 004 by 1.34 seconds. Joe finished second and third with Cashallco and Myamar-Loma.
Laura Renwick jumped the seven-year-old NFS Taluga (Taloubet z x Heartbreaker) to the top of the 3* 1.40m two-phase, beating 73 challengers to the top spot by the narrowest of margins, just 0.01 seconds. Will Fletcher slipped Quintine Van D’Abdijhoeve into second with Emma Manton claiming third aboard Vanilla Fusion.
Alfie Diaper was another to conjure up a hat-trick of one-star wins. He hit the ground running with victory in the opening class of the four-day event, winning the 31-strong Bronze Tour 1.10m two-phase by 0.45 seconds on the 11-year-old Mexicali P (Billy Mexico x Chasseur I) – also winner of the Bronze 1.15m speed by 2.64 seconds. The seven-year-old mare Last One Standing (Exsultate Des Hayettes x Oklund) handed Alfie his final win, outpacing their 28 rivals with 0.37 seconds to spare.
Sammie-Jo Coffin doubled up in the Seven-year-old classes with Lucas 259 (Marcus 5 SI x Contender) topping the first 1.35m speed with 1.08 seconds to spare and the penultimate day’s three-way decider by a handsome 5.60 seconds.
Olivia James netted as double of wins in the 1.05m amateur classes on the 12-year-old mare Hamberlins Vistocar (Mr Visto x Lupicor), heading the initial two-phase by 1.32 seconds and day three’s eight-horse jump-off with 1.05 seconds in hand.
Image: ESP Photographic
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