OCALA, Fla.--Ben Maher of Great Britain on Ginger-Blue, despite the huge disadvantage og going first of 17 in the jump-off, won the $117,000, 1.55m CSI5*-W Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Qualifier on Thursday, Feb. 12 at the World Equestrian Center .
Ben Maher on Ginger Blue (Photo by Andrew Ryback)The week's highlight is the $300,000 1.60m CSI5*-W World Cup Ocala, a qualifier for the World Cup Final in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday evening, February 14.
Fifty-nine entries competed over a first-round course set by Bernardo Costa Cabral of Portugal, and 18 went clean, but only 17 competed in the jump-off as Laura Kraut chose not to go again on Dorado 212.
First to go in the jump-off, Maher was clean in 37.63 seconds and then had to watch the next 17 in the jump-off.
“I was watching the clock count down to get past the 37-second mark, and a couple of them came really close," said Maher of the only three after him that also went clean in the jump--off.
Erynn Ballard of Canada on Epsilon de Brenil was second, clean in 37.82 seconds, Nina Mallevaey of France on My Clementine finished third, clean in 38.29, Shane Sweetnam of Ireland on James Kann Cruz was fourth, clean in 39.13, and Kraut on Tres Bien Z was fifth with four faults in 37.35, the fastest of five with four faults.
AFTER TWO wins at the Brussels CSIO5* show in August of 2025, Maher decided to let Ginger-Blue travel to Florida and rest for the remainder of the year.
Ginger-Blue returned to the show ring in January and has placed in the top three in every class in which she competed, including now three wins in a row.
“We've had Ginger-Blue since she was 7 years old, so we know each other very well,” said Maher. “She has jumped five-star grands prix and won some big competitions earlier in her career, but in the last two years, we decided to very much pinpoint her in certain classes that she finds a little bit easier.
“You can see she's such a trier,” he said. “She gives everything. She's very careful, and she really enjoys her job. The new plan was to give her a couple of months’ break just because she's a little bit older horse, and not for any real reason other than she deserved it.”
Maher said that he has been working to improve his strategy in recent jump-offs.
“I felt like I wasn’t taking enough chances, enough risk, in the latter part of last year, so I’ve been working on putting it into practice,” he said. “It’s starting to pay off, and the horses are trusting that.”
Maher sped through the jump-off but added a stride going to the final careful vertical, “which ruined a couple of people’s day today,” said Maher. “That's where I left the door open. It came close, but fortunately it stayed my way today.”
Earlier in the day, Sweetnam on Coriaan van Klapscheut Z won te $62,500 Winning Round, clean in 35.80, with McLain Ward on Lestro vd Valckenborg second, clean in 37.22, and Stephanie Macleira on Toulouse van't Prinzenveld Z third, clean in 38.48.
