8 August 2019 Horse&Hound
29Ben Maher’s strategy pays off as he
claims Great Britain’s fifth grand prix
todayÕ victory in London’s six-year history
Longines Global Champions
Tour of London, Royal
Hospital Chelsea“I’M biased, but to ride probably
the best horse in the world
is an incredible feeling,” said
Ben Maher after a momentous
victory in the Longines Global
Champions Tour (LGCT)
grand prix.
His mount, the exceptionally
talented Explosion W, helped Ben
score three five-star grands prix in
2018 and a raft of podium places
this year, including a third-place
finish in the prestigious Aachen
grand prix just a fortnight earlier.
It’s no wonder the Poden Farms-
owned 10-year-old is the horse
everyone is talking about.
“He just loves his job — he’s
proved himself in a sand arena,
grass arena, and I’m very lucky to
ride him,” said Ben. “Winning at
home is worth three of any other
day, so this has been amazing.”
Ben won the inaugural London
leg of the tour on Cella in 2013,and Saturday’sdeciderforthe
€300,000 (£275,600) class came
very close to that epic jump-off
in terms of quality, thrills and
exceptional horsemanship.
LGCT debutant designer
Alan Wade’s tracks were visually
spectacular and technically
demanding, set on the exceptional
Martin Collins footing. A superb
field of 12 produced first round
clears, and anticipation rose for a
feature-length jump-off.
Second-drawn Shane
Sweetnam and the 10-year-
old Alejandro (Accordo’s Ass
x Continue) set a strong target
of 37.44sec, then faced a long
and anxious wait. He’d done
enough to force many rivals into
faulting, one of whom was Robert
Whitaker and Catwalk IV, who
hit the Liverpool vertical for
four penalties.
As ninth to go, Ben Maher had
the advantage of watching events
unfolding and, with the crowd
behind him, he and the athletic,
big-striding son of Chacco Blue
catapulted down every line and
over the finish line 1.46sec faster.
They were in the driving seat with
three riders left to jump.Having Eric Lamaze, one
of the world’s quickest riders,
poised from late draw in a jump-
off makes every rider up their
game, but even the Olympic gold
medallist couldn’t match Ben’s
pace. The time was good enough
for second, but the last fence fell.
A final, bold bid came from
Darragh Kenny and the up-and-
coming Classic Dream in last
draw. They took third on the
podium behind Ben and Shane.RISK-TAKING PAYS OFF
“EXPLOSION W took all the risks
today and really deserved this
win,” said 2018 LGCT champion
Ben. “I couldn’t make my mind up
in the jump-off whether to make
the six or seven strides from the
first fence, and Marcus Ehning
actually helped me decide. It was
one of those rounds where every
fence came up in the right place.”BetweenBenandScott
Brash, there have now been a
phenomenal five British successes
in London’s six-year history.
As Ben has already qualified
for the LGCT Super Grand Prix in
Prague, the ticket passed down to
second-placed Shane Sweetnam.
“I set a target which they really
had to chase, then I was looking
around the practice ring to see
who was already qualified because
I thought, ‘I’m not going to win
this, but maybe I can sneak in to
Prague,’ so I’m delighted,” said
the Irishman, who only acquired
Alejandro after spotting him
jumping with a Colombian family
in America at the start of the year.
“He’d never jumped an
international grand prix. He’s still
learning but he’s a real fighter.”
Classic Dream is only a
nine-year-old, but one that
Darragh Kenny “really believes in”.
“I knew I couldn’t beat Ben,” he
said. “But I took a risk to see how
it went and he felt amazing.”
With these three riders soon
to represent their countries at the
European Championships, Great
Britain and Ireland’s chances look
very bright indeed.ByJENNIFERDONALDAND
SARAHRADFORDEdited by Jennifer Donald
[email protected]
@ donaldjdonald‘To ride probably the best
horse in the world is an
incredible feeling’: Ben
Maher and Explosion W are
victorious in the grand prix‘Winning at home is worth
three of any other day’
BEN MAHER