Wellington, Fla.—March 30

Scott Brash has had a pretty good trip to Wellington, Fla., for the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. The show jumper ranked No. 1 in the world picked up plenty of checks, and no fewer than seven second place ribbons. But every time there’s a victory gallop, he’s had to stare at someone else’s tail. 

But in the last class of circuit, Brash picked a good time to reverse that trend.

He and Hello Sanctos scored their first win of the circuit in today’s $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix CSI*****. They outran Irish rider Richie Maloney and Slieveanorra, who took second, and Vindicat W and Jessica Springsteen stayed clean for third. 

“I’ve been coming second a lot to this man this tour,” said Brash, gesturing toward fellow British rider Ben Maher, who earned the top check in the FTI Consulting Rider Challenge as the most consistent grand prix rider all tour. “So to win a class at the end is very rewarding, and good for my team that’s worked so hard for the circuit. It’s hard work.

“Sanctos was fantastic today,” he continued. “I gave him a rest when I first came here. When I started him back he felt a little bit rusty and not quite jumping fit. I jumped two weeks and gave him last week off. This week he felt great and felt like he’s jumping like he was. I’m very happy going home looking forward toward Europe.”

Maher and Brash have been so strong this season that CEO of Equestrian Sport Productions, Mark Bellissimo, joked that he’s renaming the circuit BEF, short for the British Equestrian Festival.

“All my horses have been great and consistent,” said Maher. “If someone told me at the start of circuit that it was going to go as it had I wouldn’t have believed it.”

The class was originally slated to run last night, but when a strong thunderstorm rolled through the area 1.5 hours before start time, (with more on the way) management postponed the class to this afternoon. Seven combinations progressed through Anthony D’Ambrosio’s first round fault-free. In the jump-off the last fence—the FTI oxer—came down several times.

“My plan was to go as fast as I could and try to leave the jumps up,” said Maloney. “I could have been a bit quicker, but I’m happy with him. I wasn’t worried [about the oxer] but maybe there was one less there, but it was a little bit risky, I thought. So I just held steady and kept going on the one I knew that he could jump from.” 

Springsteen was thrilled to finish third. She and Vindicat W has been on a roll all circuit, with several top finishes.

“He’s been jumping amazing,” she said. “I had the week off last week, so he felt really fresh. Every time we go out there he always tries his hardest, and never puts a foot wrong. I couldn’t be happier with him.”

This marks Brash’s second trip to Wellington. He came over two seasons ago in the lead up to the London Olympic Games when he and Sanctos were a brand new combination. Now, along with Ursala XII, he’s been Brash’s most solid partner, helping Great Britain earn team gold at the 2012 Olympic Games.

“[In 2012] We were quite inconsistent,” he recalled. “We had a win in a [FEI World Cup Qualifier] one week, but some bad rounds also, because we were just getting to know each other. Since then we’ve gone from strength to strength as a partnership.”

Brash will head back to Peebles, Scotland, spending some time training young horses and making a few trips down to the London area to check out new stables.  He’ll also focus on legging up Ursala, who will be his partner at the upcoming FEI World Cup Final in Lyon, France. 

Catch up on the $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby at WEF, where a rare jump-off decided the winner of the comepetition. For full results, visit www.showgroundslive.com. For a full report, check out the April 14 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse.