Ben Maher scores a magnificent five-star Grand Prix victory in Brussels
Monday 28 August 2023
The atmosphere was buzzing as Ben Maher produced a masterclass, smooth and unhurried round on Dallas Vegas Batilly to earn victory in the top-billed 5* Rolex Grand Prix presented by Audi at the Brussels Stephex Masters, marking his second 5* win of the show.
Naturally, course-designer Gregory Bodo set challenging questions for the 49 top-class riders forward over a long, 14-fence 1.60m track and the weather added another element with a miserable, strength-sapping downpour of heavy showers. Nonetheless, the quality shone though as 10 supplied initial clears and were joined by one on two time faults and the fastest four-faulter to make a jump-off of 12.
But it wasn’t without drama. It first appeared the Belgian hosts would only have three batting for their side as Olivier Philippaerts and H&M Legend of Love lowered the front rail of the midway rustic oxer following the combination in the first round. But upon review, officials determined that a fallen horseshow caused the mishap and Olivier was deemed to have jumped a clean round.
The jump-off again tested but Ben was on-form. He produced a flawless round on Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s 10-year-old mare Dallas Vegas Batilly (Cap Kennedy x L’Arc De Triomphe Bois Margot), not only providing the first of the double clears but breaking the 40 second barrier, but the only one in the class to do so to take a well-deserved win and the keys to an Audi Q8 e-tron.
Argentina’s Jose Larocca Jr came the closest with the only other jump-off clear to take second place on Finn Lente. Four faults at an early back rail – real this time – dropped Olivier’s H&M Legend of Love down to third, 0.70 seconds off the winning time.
“Dallas Vegas Batilly once again performed fantastically for me. She has a huge stride. Until today, she wasn’t the fastest horse, but we worked on it gradually, and it really paid off,” said Ben. “In the second round, I decided to take fewer strides between the jumps. That made it difficult for anybody else to catch up. I slipped a bit on the way to the final jump, and oddly enough, that helped me to get to the last fence quicker.
“I’m a happy man. This has been a special week for me. With the upcoming European Championship, I have various teams working for me both here and at home, which is a challenge. Yet, all my horses jumped fantastically here, and I felt incredibly good. I’ve been traveling the world for years to attend beautifully organized shows, but this one is truly exceptional. I’ve never seen before how well and quickly an event that faced such downpours could bounce back.”
The win, added to his other victories, also earned Ben the 5* leading rider award with a commanding 117-point lead over The Netherlands’ Kevin Jochems. Harry Charles finished third.
Ben so nearly made it a grand prix victory double, missing out on the 3* 1.50m Grand Prix by the tiniest of fractions. Eleven of the 58 starters accessed the jump-off with Ben and the nine-year-old stallion Point Break (Action-Breaker x Balou Du Rouet) slotting into second only 0.02 sec behind the winner, Germany’s Richard Vogel on Cepano Baloubet.
It was one of those shows where Ben could do no wrong. He’d hit immediate form with a 3* win on Point Break, but by the tiniest of margins.
Seventy-two starters originally tackled the 13-fence 1.45m track with 29 returning for the jump-off. Ben guided Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s promising 9-year-old Action-Breaker x Balou Du Rouet stallion into a smooth, quick round to take the top spot. Morocco’s Abdelkebir Ouaddar came within 0.01 of a second and had to settle for second place on Ceika Malouine.
Ben notched up another win in Friday’s 5* 1.50m on Ginger-Blue. Fifty-two riders contended this speed class with Ben edging ahead on the 12-year-old Plot Blue x Royal Bravour mare to win by 0.20 seconds.
Ben also featured in Friday night’s team competition as Great Britain finished third in the 5* Nations Cup of Brussels only three faults behind the winners.
Britain led the way at the halfway stage alongside Mexico as time faults influenced the result over French course-designer Gregory Bodo’s 12-fence 1.60m track. First out for Team GB Ben jumped a copybook round but picked up one frustrating time fault on Exit Remo but second out Harry Charles bounced back with a clear round on Aralyn Blue. John Whitaker was clear to the last but Equine America Unick du Francport tipped the front rail at the final oxer and picked up two time faults for six. However, super-cool anchor Scott Brash gave an exemplary performance on Hello Valentino with a clear to keep the team up at the top.
But with Sweden on eight and Germany and Ireland on 12, it was still all to play for.
Ben made no mistake on Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s San Remo 14-year-old Exit Remo in round two and stormed home with a clear. But Harry and the 12-year-old Chacco-Blue daughter Aralyn Blue hit the back bar on the final element of the combination and toppled the top rail of the bright orange planks to finish on eight. It was down to Britian’s last two riders to deliver the goods. John again came home on six faults, tipping the penultimate rail and adding two time faults to the Zandor 15-year-old ‘Frank’s’ score.
Scott could only afford one mistake to keep Britain in the top spot as Germany fought back hard to add a round two zero to their initial score of 12 while Mexico added 12 to their one time fault. But Hello Valentino was another to fall foul of the back bar coming out of the combination, remaining clear for the rest of the course was vital for victory. All looked to be going on course until the final fence fell, the front rail toppling along with the win.
Harry Charles was a fraction out of luck in Saturday’s big class of the day with Aralyn Blue to miss out on an Audi car voucher.
Forty-four competitors contended the 13-fence 5* 1.50m track presented by Audi with 11 coming up with all the answers in round one to qualify for the jump-off. Harry put in a great bid with Ann Thompson’s 12-year-old Chacco-Blue daughter but missed out on the win by 0.39 seconds. Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat claimed the win on Caracho. Ben was also in the mix to finish fifth with a double clear on Ginger-Blue.
Image: Sportfot
