Ben Maher earns one-two finish with Tackeray and Quiet Easy 4 in Florida

Britain’s Ben Maher finished first and second in yesterday’s $32,000 ( £20,352) G&C Farm 1.45m Classic at the FTI Consulting Winter Festival in Florida.

Ben took first place on Emma Phillips‘ 12-year-old KWPN stallion Tackeray, with a time of 60 secs.

He claimed second prize aboard the eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding Quiet Easy 4 – also owned by Phillips – in a time of 60.36 secs.

Ben said: “It was a good class. I’ve got a big bill here, so I have to start trying to win some money.

“It was a nice course; not too big. They left a lot of options to leave strides out in certain places and the course just suited me I guess.”

Ben has had Tackeray for six months. “He jumped the World Cup and then we dropped him down. There is a good variety of classes that he is capable of being good in.”

Quiet Easy has been at Mike and Emma Phillips’ Quainton Stud since he was a five-year-old.

“He was with a girl at home doing all the young horse classes, so this is my first show with him here in Florida. When he was eight it was always the plan for him to come to me [to] bring on,” said Ben.

“It is looking like he is going to be very useful.”

The class featured 57 horse and rider combinations from 16 different nations with Ireland’s Darragh Kenny taking third place and Canada’s Eric Lamaze finishing fourth.

The 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Festival in Wellington, Florida, will run for 12 weeks in total, finishing on 1 April.

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