Ben Maher adds more points to his tally in Madrid to top the Longines FEI World Cup Western European League Leaderboard
Monday 27 November 2023
.jpg "Ben Maher adds more points to his tally in Madrid to top the Longines FEI World Cup Western European League Leaderboard")
Ben claimed a close second to Marcus Ehning in the sixth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup 2023/2024 qualifier in Madrid, Spain, with Enjeu De Grisien to leap to the top on the Western European League leaderboard.
On an afternoon filled with thrills and surprises, German star Marcus Ehning galloped to victory with his relatively new ride Coolio 42, narrowly relegating Ben Maher and Enjeu De Grisien.
From a starting field of 39, a total of 10 made the cut into the second-round jump-off where the track set by Spanish course designer Javier Trenor created even more excitement. Included in the final showdown were two from Spain, Mariano Martinez Bastida who is ranked 101st in the world and Teresa Blazquez-Abascal ranked 319th, and they didn’t disappoint when filling third and ninth places in the final analysis.
But it was Marcus, currently ranked 39th but holder of the number one slot on more than one occasion during his spectacular career, who would carry away the maximum 20 points when pinning reigning Olympic champion Ben into runner-up spot with Enjeu de Grisien. Nevertheless, the 17 points gained from second place in this, the sixth leg of 14 competitions, leap-frogged Ben to the top of the Western European League leaderboard and puts him ahead of his nearest rival by 10 points.
Marcus is only 49, but his list of accomplishments goes back a long way including Olympic team gold at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, five European team titles and three World Cup victories, the first recorded with Anka in Las Vegas (USA) in 2003. Now, 21 years later, he looks well on his way to his 21st FEI Jumping World Cup Final.
Today’s Madrid success was not his first.
"Winning here for the third time means I'm getting old, but I'm still here! I really like the show in Madrid and I'm happy to come back every year," said Marcus.
Martinez Bastida whipped his home crowd into a frenzy when clear with Belano vd Wijnhoeve Z. His time might have been faster, but he seemed to lose his line to the final oxer with a last-minute adjustment to the left and, as it would turn out, he wouldn’t be the only one to make an error of judgement there.
But, fifth to go, Ben made no mistake, bringing the nine-year-old Enjeu de Grisien through the timers at the gallop to put it up to the rest of them.
Super-fast Frenchman, Julien Epaillard, was no threat to the British rider’s lead with two down on Donatello D’Auge. But Marcus followed with a fabulous tour of the track that shaved a quarter of a second off Ben’s target time, balancing his horse beautifully on the tricky turn to the penultimate vertical and on full power down to the final oxer to go out in front.
With three to go it seemed the result was far from decided, but World number one, Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann with the grey mare Calizi, left one on the floor in the quickest time - more than a second faster than Marcus - before the final Frenchman, and last weekend’s winner in Stuttgart, Germany, Kevin Staut, set sail with the experienced 14-year-old mare Visconti du Telman.
And they were looking very dangerous indeed until, to the disbelief of the crowd, they also seemed to mistake the bending line to the final oxer at fence eight like the earlier Spanish pair who, however, managed to rectify the situation at the last minute. It was too late when Kevin realised he was heading instead for fence 13, the second fence on the new track which he had already jumped, and it was elimination when Visconti took it on anyway and sent the standards and poles flying in every direction. Kevin shook his head with disbelief at what had just happened, leaving the arena with a wry smile on his face.
Last to go, Teresa Blasquez-Abascal and her 10-year-old mare Nasa de Toxandria gave it their best shot for two fences down in a good time, more than pleased to have battled it out with some distinction against the very best in the sport.
For the winner, Marcus Ehning, today’s victory was particularly special.
"I was very happy with my horse today, it's only his second world cup so I'm very pleased with him," said Marcus.
He only acquired Coolio in August, and already the pair are showing great promise together. The horse was produced from a youngster up to 5* level by fellow-German Marcel Marschall who competed him in the German side that finished third at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup 2023 at St Gallen in Switzerland in June. “I’m really happy to have him to ride alongside Stargold,” Marcus added.
Ben, who won the Western European League qualifier in Verona, Italy, two weeks ago wasn’t disappointed with his second-place finish this time out. He’s enjoying a spectacular end to the year with his string, and said of Enjeu de Grisien, “it’s just his second 5* Grand Prix and the first time at that level trying to go quick.”
Reflecting on his jump-off round he pointed out, “I did everything I could, there were one or two places that didn’t go exactly as I wanted but it was a difficult course in the jump-off. We saw some amazing riders make mistakes, and Marcus just got me there at the last jump I think!”
Ben missed much of the early-season shows this year after injuring himself in a fall, but that has left him with a huge amount of fire-power now, later in the season.
"I'm doing more indoor shows than I have in the past. I had a quiet start to the year which enables me, with a bigger team of horses, to compete more this time of year. I'm lucky I can rotate them and pick which horse will suit which arena, and the whole team is riding with confidence and that's showing in the results at the moment," said Ben, who has now risen to the very top of the Western European League table ahead of the next leg of the series in La Coruna, Spain next weekend.
Marcus Ehning meanwhile is still talking low-key about his plans for the remainder of the winter season. After today’s victory he said, “I would like to continue like this, but it is not so easy!”
Qualifying for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final 2024 which will take place in Riyadh (KSA), next April is definitely on his agenda “I will try to qualify for the Final and at the moment I am in a good position, so I hope I keep having good results,” said the man who is one of just five three-time FEI World Cup champions and who gave one of his masterclasses in horsemanship to post yet another memorable victory today.
Earlier in the week, Ben had eased Enjeu De Grisien into third in Friday’s 5* 1.50m. Forty-seven riders contended this speed class with Ben and the Toulon nine-year-old finishing 2.41 sec behind the winner, Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann on Dzara Dorchival.
Image: FEI/Thomas Reiner
1xtpsebafdw52.jpg "Sienna Hutchings and Mia Pearson Soar to Success in the STX-UK Pony British Novice Second Rounds")
.jpg "Eva Dent from Durham is the latest NAF Shining Star")
