Maher on course for 2012
Ben Maher
British showjumping star Ben Maher has kept himself firmly in London 2012 selection contention after completing the most successful London International Horse Show of his career.
Maher followed up his stylish Rolex FEI World Cup win on Monday - a victory that netted him just over £30,000 - by being crowned H&M leading rider. It rewards the show's most successful rider over five days of competition, with Maher claiming a commanding triumph built on winning three classes and finishing third in two others.
Maher will hope to have Tripple X III, his World Cup horse, and Robin Hood available for London, and he is thirsting for another opportunity after a poor final round in Hong Kong three years ago cost him any chance of an Olympic medal.
"It is a huge advantage to have done a Games before if I am lucky enough to make another one," Maher said. "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. I am in a great position - I have got two amazing horses."
The show's finale - the Olympia Grand Prix - did not see Maher featuring at its business end, bowing out on Tackeray in round one.
Maher was not the only casualty, with pre-event favourite Nick Skelton and Big Star knocking down the first fence, while Germany's highly-fancied Marcus Ehning collected nine faults on Noltes Kuchengirl.
Ireland's Dermot Lennon, third in the World Cup on Monday, took the top prize of just over £20,000 on Loughview Lou-Lou after an 11-horse jump-off.
Britain's Peter Charles set a scorching pace on Murkas Nevada, clocking 39.21 seconds, but Lennon posted 37.84, which proved a time only one other rider - 19-year-old Spaniard Manuel Anon - threatened.
Anon and Rackel Chavannaise, though, had to settle for a time of 38.08 and second spot, as Lennon became the grand prix's second Irish winner in three years after Cian O'Connor.
