British rider Ben Maher piloted Jane Clark’s 18-year-old stallion Tic Tac, the horse he rode at the 2016 Rio Olympics, to a heart-stopping finish in Sunday’s $137,000 Restylane grand prix at the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), Florida.
His victory came by the narrowest of margins – just one hundredth of a second – over Canada’s Eric Lamaze, who was also riding his 18-year-old Olympic partner, Fine Lady 5, with whom he won the individual bronze medal in Rio.
Rounding out the top three in a fantastic result for teenage horses was Conor Swail of Ireland on the 13-year-old GK Coco Chanel.
“For me, the grass arena here is one of the best grass arenas there is in the world,” said Ben of the Derby field at Equestrian Village where this week’s classes took place.