Great Britain’s Ben Maher and Diva II jumped to victory in the $372,000 FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix CSI-W 5*, presented by Douglas Elliman Real Estate, Saturday night at the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The pair topped a three-horse jump-off with Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) and Fibonacci 17 in second and Laura Kraut (USA) with Cedric third.
Canada’s Yann Candele was 10th aboard Showgirl. The pair had five faults in the first round and a time of 82.76 seconds.
Alan Wade’s (IRL) course under the lights tested all of the horses and riders Saturday night, and only those three, out of the 41 starters, were able to advance to the jump-off. It took 17 rounds before Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Artemis Equestrian Farm LLC’s Fibonacci 17 were the first pair to jump clear in round one. Another 17 rounds, and Laura Kraut and Cherry Knoll Farm Inc.’s Cedric jumped the second clear to make a jump-off. Second to last, Ben Maher and Tatiana Korsakova’s Diva II put in the third clear trip. The three combinations returned to settle the final standings in one more round.
Michaels-Beerbaum and Fibonacci 17 were first to return, jumping clear over the short course in 46.31 seconds. Kraut and Cedric had one rail down in a slower time of 46.76 seconds. Maher and Diva II were last to go, clearing the course in 46.03 seconds for the win.
Maher started riding Diva II, a 10-year-old Anglo European mare by (Kannan x Berlioz), in November of 2014 and finished out last year’s Winter Equestrian Festival with a 1.50m win in week eleven of the circuit. Diva has developed throughout the year and came back even better in 2015, stepping up to the bigger classes and proving her talent in Saturday’s challenging World Cup qualifying event.
Despite jumping at the end of the class and returning for the second round after only a brief break, the mare put in the extra effort.
“It was a pretty quick turnaround for me. I was second from the end, so Diva did not have much time to recover, which I really felt in the warm-up especially before the jump-off,” Maher stated. “That jump-off probably was not my best ever round. Diva is hairy in the way she goes. She is not so conventional always, but I did not have a lot to lose. A couple weeks ago I played it safe. Tonight I knew I would be top three, so I figured that I would have a go and with a little bit of luck here and there, it paid off.”
“She has come a long way this circuit. I had her this time last year and we built up,” Maher detailed. “I remember being in the medium schooling jumpers out in the back ring and still kicking out the back rails then. It is exciting for me. Obviously Jane Clark is a great owner of mine, and we have had a building circuit with her horses. This is nice for another owner in Tatiana Korsakova. This is the first horse that they have owned at this level and hopefully this will bring new partnerships into the sport and something good for the future.”
With the best win of Diva’s career, Maher noted that the mare also won a class in Olympia with Alan Wade building.
“He is a great course builder,” Maher stated. “When I walked, I thought it was quite a smooth course, but they were big jumps. I was right at the end to go and there were fences falling everywhere. There was not anything in particular that was the main cause of the problems. It is big money, so you expect a big course.”
$372,000 FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix CSI-W 5*, presented by Douglas Elliman Real Estate
1. DIVA II: 2005 AES mare by Kannan x Berlioz
BEN MAHER (GBR), Tatiana Korsakova: 0/0/46.03
2. FIBONACCI 17: 2005 Swedish Warmblood gelding by For Feeling x Corland
MEREDITH MICHAELS BEERBAUM (GER), Artemis Equestrian Farm LLC: 0/0/46.31
3. CEDRIC: 1998 Holsteiner gelding by Chambertin x Carolus Z
LAURA KRAUT (USA), Cherry Knoll Farm, Inc: 0/4/46.76
4. WOKLAHOMA: 2003 KWPN mare by Sheraton x Calvados
ROBERTO TERAN, JR. (COL), Ark Partners LLC: 1/82.81
5. OHLALA: 2003 Swedish Warmblood mare by Orlando x Cardento
LAUREN HOUGH (USA), The Ohlala Group: 4/74.96
6. ROYCE: 2004 Oldenburg stallion by Café au Lait x Grandilot
MARGIE ENGLE (USA), Elm Rock LLC: 4/78.24
7. BARRON: 2004 Belgian Sport Horse gelding by For Pleasure x Nabab de Reve
LUCY DAVIS (USA), Old Oak Farm: 4/80.94
8. MACARTHUR: 2000 Dutch Warmblood gelding by Concorde x Unknown
MICHAEL HUGHES (USA), Christina Fried: 4/81.04
9. CARISMA: 1999 Swedish Warmblood mare by Cardento 933 x Maraton 600
DANIELLE GOLDSTEIN (ISR), Israeli Equestrian Partners: 4/81.93
10. SHOWGIRL: 2000 Selle Francais mare by Gold De Becourt x Elf III
YANN CANDELE (CAN), Watermark Group: 5/82.76
11. FLAMING STAR: 1999 AES gelding by Fairman x Unknown
CHARLIE JACOBS (USA), CMJ Sporthorse LLC: 5/83.72
12. FLOWER: 2005 Belgian Warmblood mare by Bon Ami x Randel Z
NINA FAGERSTROM (FIN), Nina Fagerstrom: 5/84.65
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