Hopes of a seventh British win were soaring when Ben Maher laid down a poetically fluid round on Point Break, that axed an intimidating 6sec from the leading clear, from Belgian’s Niels Bruynseels (Chacco’s Lando OL).
But while Ben’s round was like mercury poured down a maze, Christian’s scythed the lines with mathematical precision, and the great 15-year-old grey used his awesome scope to come home with 0.38sec in hand.
“Now I see the playback [see video below], it was probably a once-in-a-lifetime jump off,” Christian said. “I turned to the third last vertical and the moment I decided to do it, I told myself for a second ‘you can’t’. I was on so much of an angle, the way he jumped it — I think of all the horses in the world, only Checker could deal with this situation. And it’s where I won the jump off no question.
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Ben had his own gremlins to wrestle with, having taken some risk strategies that didn’t come to fruition with Charlotte Rossetter and Pamela Wright’s 11-year-old, including in this year’s Rolex grand prix at Royal Windsor.
“I knew I’d messed up a couple of jump-offs on him trying to do things that perhaps weren’t playing to my strengths, so I knew I had to take a lot of risks today but it was calculated risk,” he said.
“If I try to push him out of his rhythm he doesn’t like it at the moment but I think it will come a bit later. Luckily he’s like a rubber ball, and he can turn, so I try to play to his strengths.”
His round was near perfection — and could have been unbeatable, had it not been for a heavy slip after the second fence.
“I don’t say it very often, but as a rider I don’t think I could have done anything differently,” he said. “When I turned back, I saw one less stride to the double but as I went to step away he lost his footing behind, which was quite significant, having watched the replay.
“I had to alter the line and jog out to the right hand side, which was time consuming but I don’t think it was jumpable on what I was committed to before the slip.”
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Jennifer is passionate at showjumping and her role as H&H’s showjumping editor has taken her around the world reporting from shows and interviewing riders, connections and those involved behind the scenes. Since joining H&H from BBC Sport in 2005, she has written on every subject across the equestrian sphere — from turnout rugs to stable management — and has interviewed gold medallists, world champions and winners galore. She also has first-hand experience of working in the equestrian industry as a riding instructor and yard manager.
