Ben Maher Leads British Charge in FEI Jumping World Cup to finish second with Point Break
Sunday 22 December 2024
On the final day of the London International Horse Show, Ben Maher and the 10-year-old Point Break led the British charge in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™. Pipped to the title by Ireland's Darragh Kenny and Eddy Blue, Maher had to settle for second place with Robert Whitaker and Vemento finishing the podium placings in third, and Tim Gredley and Imperial HBF slotting into fourth.
Bernardo Costa Cabral (POR) assisted by the exciting young course building talent Colm Quinn (IRE) made full use of the extra space available at London’s relatively new host venue of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™. Having been held in Olympia’s Grand Hall for 49 years, The London International Horse Show, along with its hugely popular leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League, moved from the traditional but spatially constricted Grand Hall of Olympia to the vast and modern ExCeL arena in 2021 where athletes have the luxury of bigger competition and warm up arenas.
Costa Cabral set a technical, original but fair course with 12 obstacles consisting of a combination as well as two doubles in succession. He displayed his incredible talent for whittling down a field of world-class riders using an imaginative array of fences in meticulously thought-out succession by testing the obedience of horse, technical abilities of the athlete and concentration of them both without building a course of huge fences. He masterfully produced a first round course whose technicality produced just five faultless rounds from the 37 starters, whilst 12 combinations crossed the line with one fence down and not a single elimination was recorded.
Six on-form combinations faulted before an inspired Tim Gredley (GBR) and Imperial HBF answered all of Costa Cobral’s thought-provoking questions to produce the first clear round of the class and raise the roof of London’s ExCeL arena. Having cleared the fences but accrued three time faults in the fourth leg of the FEI Jumping World Cup™ in Stuttgart last month, it was clear that Gredley was not going to let a place in the jump-off elude him again as he kept up a strong pace around the track to allow for Imperial’s extravagant technique, the only downfall of which being that he can lose time in the air.
Darragh Kenny (IRL) ensured a jump-off when producing the second clear from ninth draw as the athletic Eddy Blue effortlessly adjusted his stride seamlessly to his pilot’s seemingly invisible commands. Sophie Hinners (GER) contesting her second Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Qualifier of the series, produced the third clear round with her winning partner from Verona, the striking grey gelding Iron Dames My Prins. Thirteen combinations faulted before Ben Maher (GBR) and the 10-year-old gelding Point Break added their names to the start list for round two against the clock with a typically polished performance without fault. Following suit also on home soil and to equally rapturous applause from an appreciative home crowd, Robert Whitaker (GBR) and his Helsinki winner Vermento produced the fifth and final flawless performance of round one.
Tim Gredley opened the jump-off with the big jumping 11 year old gelding Imperial HBF. A single fence down in a time of 40.09 seconds saw them finish in fourth place. Kenny, who had already made his intentions ‘to win!’ clear in his interview following the first round, set off as if he believed this outcome was guaranteed. He skilfully guided his mount around Costa Cobral’s jump-off track, omitting a stride down the first two lines, taking fence one to two in six strides and fence eight down to the second element of what was the double at fence nine, on five strides without breaking his rhythm or balance. He stopped the clock in 34.76 to set the standard for his remaining rivals to chase.
Maher, vying to repeat his win of 12 months ago with Enjeu De Griejen, took a similar path to Kenny but opted not to take out a stride down the second line from fence eight to nine. This and a playful buck from Point Break around a turn saw him leave the fences standing in a fractionally slower time of 35.15 and take second place with one athlete remaining.
Hungry for his second win of the season and aware of what was required here tonight to do so, Whitaker set sail but when the first fence hit the floor, his chances of victory were gone. He finished on four faults in 37.89 to take the final podium position in what has been an incredible run of form for himself and the homebred stallion Vermento.
When asked where he lost time in the jump-off, Maher said that he chose not to take out a stride down the second distance as he didn’t feel it was within the best interest of Point Break at this stage of his career. He also suggested that Point Break’s little moment of exuberance may have wasted a fraction of a second, but was quick to credit Kenny, saying that the buck wasn’t an excuse for not winning. Maher graciously concluded in a jovial manner, demonstrative of the true sportsman that he is, ‘Darragh just rode faster!’
After eight legs of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League, Kevin Staut (FRA) remains at the top of the provisional Western European League Standings but is joined in equal first place by Robert Whitaker (GBR) with 60 points apiece. Gregory Wathelet (BEL) lies in third position with 43 points just ahead of Richard Vogel (GER) in fourth on 42 points. Steve Guerdat (SUI), Max Kühner (GER) and Ben Maher (GBR) round out the top six.
The Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Western European League crosses the English Channel for the 9th leg of the series where Mechelen plays host to the last of the 2024 qualifiers on 30 December before handing over the reins to Basel who open 2025 with Leg 10.
Image: FEI/Jon Stroud
