THE ‘best horse’ of the season, Explosion W, lived up to his title when landing victory in last Saturday night’s €1.25 million LGCT Super Grand Prix in Prague, Czech Republic.

Britain’s Ben Maher has enjoyed an extraordinary season with GCT Grand Prix wins in London and New York, Global Champions League honours with the London Knights, the individual silver and team bronze medal at the European Championships, and last weekend he secured one of the biggest pots in show jumping.

On Monday, Poden Farms confirmed the horse has been sold to Pamela Wright and Charlotte Rossetter but, crucially for Team Britain coming into an Olympic year, he will remain under Maher.

He described the 10-year-old Chacco-Blue-sired gelding as “magic”. “It was amazing sport today and the top horses and riders in the world. It is just an amazing feeling to be able to win here with this horse, the people who are round me to make this possible and they all know who they are. Magic.

“No words can explain him, what he has done over the past two years and how he has learned. He proved how good he is tonight,” Maher said.

Ireland’s Darragh Kenny collected €250,000 for his runner-up place with Balou du Reventon. This combination are another who have been in incredible form, winning five-star Grands Prix in Chantilly and Knokke, and helping Team Ireland to victory at the FEI Nations Cup Final in Barcelona last month.

“These are the strongest combinations in the world at the moment, and they’re all here,” said Kenny who, despite being disappointed after collecting a time fault in the first round, was thrilled to finish on the podium. “The way they do this show is brilliant, it is the way our industry needs to go. It’s an incredible atmosphere,” he added.

Demonstrating just how strong the combinations were, it was the newly crowned European champion Martin Fuchs with the wonderful Clooney 51 who took third place.

Exciting

The thrilling format with two rounds ensured pressure-cooker tension until the last rider cleared the last fence infront of a crowd of 12,000 at the O2 Arena.

Some 18 combinations qualified at each leg of the Global Champions Tour around the world and Ireland were represented by Kenny, winner in Chantilly, and Shane Sweetnam, second in London (qualified as winner already had ticket).

Course designer Uliano Vezzani tested every combination to come through the start gates during the week, and none more so in this huge class, with massive 1.65m fences.

Just four combinations managed to keep a clean sheet in the first round and Kenny finished on one time fault, to his dismay. All 18 were invited back for round two but just 16 returned and it was game on.

Fuchs, carrying four faults from the opening round, set the standard with a lightning fast clear second time out to put enormous pressure on the shoulders of those yet to jump.

Kenny inched ahead of him when Balou du Reventon once again exploded over every single fence to just finish with a time fault, leaving him on a total of two faults and in the lead with four combinations on a score of zero left to jumps.

When the next three all faulted to fall below Kenny, he still held the top spot as Maher and Explosion W entered the arena. They survived a lucky rub of the Czech House double but Maher kept the tempo steady, giving Explosion time to the fences and the crowd held their breath as they approached the final line.

They were flawless. The crowd were on their feet as they landed from the final fence to seal the win and take the LGCT Super Grand Prix title and €300,000 in prize money.

Speaking on behalf of then owners Poden Farms, Heidi Moffitt said: “Explosion is one of those special stories we are all happy to be part of and we are really fortunate to be part of his story. The GCT has always been a part giving us the platform to achieve what we have.

“And of course Ben (Maher) that goes without saying. And I have to say Emily [Moffitt], she is the reason we are in this sport and my husband, as some of you know, is an all in sort of person, a little intense and I wish he was here – it’s kind of his award. May the story continue.”

Breeders Willy and Betsie Wijnen were aso in the Czech capital to pick up their award for breeding the superstar. They spoke with delight, saying: “Thank you ladies and gentlemen I am very happy that Jan has invited me here for the Breeder Award.

“It is wonderful what Explosion is doing. Before I knew we had a good horse but Ben made the team, he made the team complete.”