Ben Maher, the Olympic showjumper, has wasted little time in finding a successor to his top horse. Barely two months after Rolette was bought for a young rider in the United States — for a sum rumoured to be in excess of £1.5 million — Maher’s results with his new prospect, Robin Hood, have lifted him to sixth place, the highest ranked Briton, in the Western European League of the Rolex World Cup.

This week at Olympia, the London International Horse Show, which hosts the sixth of 13 qualifying events, he hopes to secure his ticket to the final in Las Vegas in April. The top 19 in the league qualify. “Las Vegas is one of three aims for 2009,” Maher, who is based in Essex, said. “A top-four finish on Sunday should be enough.”

Maher, 25, whose second aim is selection for the European Showjumping Championships in Windsor next August, will have to be on top form if he is to succeed. Olympia, one of the most popular shows with riders, has attracted a high-class field, including Steve Guerdat, of Switzerland, the league leader, Rutherford Latham, of Spain, and Geir Gulliksen, of Norway, who are third and fourth respectively.

Jessica Kuerten, of Ireland, ranked No 5 in the world, is a notable absentee. Her protracted appeal against suspension after a positive drugs test on her horse, Castle Forbes Maike, in La Baule in 2007, was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week. She has been replaced by her countryman, Denis Lynch.

The home side includes Great Britain’s top 12 riders — from Nick Skelton, the No 1, who rides his new horse, Transmission, to Ellen Whitaker, the No 12. Tim Stockdale, sixteenth in the league, starts as one of the favourites on Sunday on his Olympic mare, Corlato, on which he was third in the Toronto qualifying event. Michael Whitaker rides his Toronto Grand Prix winner, Insul Tech Wonami, as he looks to improve on his 22nd place.

Despite the inexperience of Robin Hood — whose first international show was Calgary in September, where he had a clear round in the Nations Cup — Maher is optimistic. “In a large arena, control issues can be a problem but I’m hopeful that we’ll be all right as Olympia is small,” he said. If he succeeds in reaching the top four on Sunday he will also be on course for his third aim for next year — breaking into the top 30, from his current No 34, in the world rankings.

The showjumping begins today with the Welcome Speed Stakes. The £62,000 World Cup qualifying event on Sunday is the richest competition of the week. Other highlights include the Accenture Puissance tomorrow night and the Olympia Grand Prix on Monday night, the final day of the show. All performances are sold out. “It’s almost unbelievable in the midst of a tough economy,” Simon Brooks-Ward, the director, said. “Olympia seems to be recession-proof.”

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