After Ben Maher’s golden weekend in Madrid, British riders are 1-2 in LGCT rankings

After the series opener in Mexico City and stops in Miami Beach, Shanghai and now Madrid, Brash has 131 points, Maher 103 and Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander 100 in the overall standings. There are 16 stages in total on the 2018 circuit, with subsequent Show Jumping competitions set for Hamburg, St.Tropez, Cannes, Cascais, Estoril, Monaco, Paris, Chantilly, Berlin, London, Valkenswaard, Rome and Doha.

At the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid arena, 35-year-old Maher and his partner were clearly on a roll on the grass surface this weekend, winning in various competitions including the team-based Global Champions League with his London Knights squad (also featuring Nicola Philippaerts and Emily Moffitt). Their team also leads that series’ standings, ahead of Valkenswaard United and the Berlin Eagles. 

In the Grand Prix over 1.60 m obstacles, Maher, ranked 21st in the world in the sport, claimed victory on designer Santiago Varela Ullastres’ course with a clear round and the fastest time – 37.73 seconds – in the tie-breaking jump-off. Philippaerts was second on H&M Harley vd Bisschop and the home nation’s Eduardo Alvarez Aznar third on Rokfeller de Pleville Bois Margot. Maher’s first-place prize included a cheque for €100,000 in addition to the 40 points.

Brash himself was fifth in the Grand Prix of Madrid with Ursula XII, and the Scotland native helped solidify his Tour lead with his latest performances in Spain. And as Grand Prix winners (alongside Tops-Alexander and Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet so far), both Maher and Brash  have also qualified for a place in the Longines Global Champions Super Grand Prix scheduled for Prague in December. A detailed recap of the results from this year’s circuit to date is here. Next weekend, from May 10-12, the Tour heads north to Hamburg, Germany.