Rotterdam saved the suspense for the final lap. This Sunday, Ben Maher won the 5* Grand Prix of CHIO Rotterdam with Point Break, his 12-year-old SWB stallion. Eleven riders in the jump-off, a podium covered by less than a second, and a Brit leaving with the full package: the Grand Prix trophy in his right hand and the Nations League one in his left. Almost insolent.
Rotterdam, knife-between-the-teeth edition
There were 49 starters. No fewer than 11 came back for the jump-off. Almost the perfect ratio. And then Rotterdam rolled out its best script: the one where nobody breathes, where every stride costs, where a green oxer becomes a small collective heart attack.
Ben Maher and Point Break stopped the clock in 42.98Behind them, Luke Dee and Gangster WW ont échoué à 16 centièmes. Willem Greve, on home soil, completed the podium with Grandorado TN in 43.97 seconds.. Three riders, less than a second. The kind of Grand Prix decided more with a scalpel than a hammer.
Point Break, the horse with no bones
Maher did not try to sell it as a walk in the park. “ La barrage ne s’est pas vraiment passé comme prévu ” he explained, referring to that hot moment over the green oxer. But the video was kinder than the feeling. And the result even more so.
The Brit mainly paid tribute to Point Break, a son ofAction Breaker and grandson of Balou du Rouet : « One of the best horses I have ever ridden. » Not bad, coming from a man who did not exactly discover the top level last month. Maher describes a horse with a slightly short stride, but intelligent, athletic and supple enough to give the impression he jumps “ with no bones in his body ».
Sporting translation: Point Break does not suffer through a course. He reads it, cuts it up and makes it look simple.
Maher puts another 5* Grand Prix in his pocket
The symbolism is neat. Maher was already coming off a golden Friday with the British team in the Nations League. Two days later, he pockets the Grand Prix. The Dutch weekend, English breakfast full-option version.
The rider admitted it: second places had been stacking up recently. This time, everything fell on the right side. The course, the rhythm, the luck, the horse. And above all, those 16 hundredths that turn a good Sunday into a 5* victory.
Luke Dee grows, Greve applauds
Luke DeeLuke Dee, based for the past 18 months with Nick Skelton and Laura Kraut, signs a second place that smells of fast-track progress. With Gangster WWthe New Zealander confirms he is no longer just here to learn: he is starting to disturb the order.
Willem Greve, meanwhile, brought experience to the table. Third with Grandorado TN, he knows the cruelty of a jump-off: going early, showing the way, then watching others shorten it. But the Dutchman mainly took the positive from his horse, whom he says is becoming a better partner every day.
Rotterdam closed the curtain on a classic. Maher, for his part, simply reminded everyone that a great rider can sometimes win even when everything does not go exactly according to plan. That is often how you recognise them.
Find the full results of the 5* Grand Prix of Rotterdam here.
Photo cover © CHIO Rotterdam/Rachelle de Leeuw
