WELLINGTON,Fla.--British Olympic champion Ben Maher had a banner week during Nations Cup week at the Winter Equestrian Festival, capping it off with a victory in the $200,000  CSIO4* Grand Prix on Point Break on Sunday, March 3.

Ben Maher on Point Break (Photo by Sportfot)Five were clean in the first round over courses designed by Steve Stephens and Nick Granat, but Maher was the only one to finish clean in the jump-off, finishing in 41.40.

Coco Fath was second with a single time fault on Aventador 5, and Belgium’s Zoe Conter was third on La Una with the fastest four fault round, finishing in 42.34.

Australia's Sharn Wordley on Champion League was fourth with four faults in 46.22, and Ireland's Tom Wachman on Berlux Z was fifth with 28 faults.

“This is probably the biggest grand prix he's won,” said Maher of Point Break, a horse he’s had in his string since the stallion was 6. “It wasn't so long ago he was spooking off every golf cart, but he was always a very talented horse and he's progressed on very nicely."

 

“HIS ATHLETICISM is what separates him from the other horses,” said Maher. “The way he can bend his body and move his shoulder allows my job to become much easier. I can ride at the jumps and trust that he can do the job for me.”

The grand prix win for Maher was combined with Thursday’s victory riding Ginger-Blue in the WEF Challenge Cup qualifier which gave him the Martha Jolicoeur Leading International Rider Award.

“I've got a lot of horses ready to go at this level, so I'm very lucky,” said Maher. “But I've tried to use the horses sparingly. I really try to plan which horse is right for each class. To finish on this today has topped off a great week. The strength and depth in my team, both horses and people, it's a great time to be able to ride right now.”