World Cup success lifts Maher bid for Olympic spot

World Cup winner Ben Maher has put himself in prime position to be part of Great Britain’s London 2012 showjumping team after taking Olympia by storm.

Maher’s World Cup victory on Sunday came on Tripple X III and arrived just three months after he helped Britain win European team bronze in Madrid.

“To finish up the year with a win like that is fantastic,” said Maher, who emulated Michael Whitaker’s Rolex FEI World Cup success at Olympia 12 months ago and underlined top British showjumping’s current position of strength.

“He (Tripple X) has always been an amazing horse, and he has always been a horse I believed could go to London. We had moments through the year when we thought we were going to be better, and we weren’t, but I think that was part of the learning process. Now we’ve had a big win we believe we can do it.

“He felt very relaxed. In the past he has jumped very well, but he has felt slightly tense. Yesterday he felt very comfortable with the course and I think that is a big part of a horse that is going to progress to big things. It is important he knows the occasion and that he rises to it.

“He went into the arena very relaxed and felt very focused on his job. I didn’t have to manhandle him around the course, I could let him ride it with his own rhythm. He will rest for a few weeks now and then will jump at Basle and Zurich in January. He will take February off before flying to Florida to begin his outdoor campaign and get him ready for the Nations Cups.”

Maher competed at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, putting himself in medal contention with Rolette before problems in the final round knocked him out of the running.

“It is a huge advantage to have done a Games before if I am lucky enough to make another one,” he added. “I was very down for a long time after the last Olympics. It was lovely to make it there, but I was very close in the end in that last round. London is something I think about every day and I try to make decisions that will hopefully give us every opportunity to be there.”

Belgium’s Ludo Philippaerts won the opening international class on the London International Horse Show’s final day at Olympia. Philippaerts and Chicago vh Moleneind took the Shelley Ashman International Six Bar competition after clearing a final fence 1.85 metres high.

The final obstacle of six is raised after each round, and Philippaerts was the only rider to go clear in a third jump-off. Britain’s John Whitaker (Cornetto King) and Norwegian Geir Gulliksen (Storm) finished tied for second, Germany’s Holger Wulschner (Coeur de Lion) fourth and Surrey-based William Funnell (Beowulf) fifth.