LAURA Collett and London 52 claimed their third CCI5* - all won at different venues – at Luhmühlen Horse Trials in Germany, on Sunday.

The pair, who previously won Pau in 2020 and Badminton in 2022, finished on their dressage score of 20.3 - the second-best five-star finishing score of all time – after foot-perfect cross-country and show jumping rounds.

The combination now hold three of the top four best finishing scores at the level (all sub 22), only behind Germany’s Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk who scored 20.1 to win Kentucky in 2021.

Collett headed an all-British podium of Kitty King (Vendredi Biats) in second while reigning world champion Yasmin Ingham finished third with the Irish Sport Horse gelding Rehy DJ (Tinaranas Inspector x Big Sink Hope).

“London is a sensational horse, a horse of a lifetime and I’m so lucky to get to ride him! He knows when it matters. He went like a dream in the dressage was so brave in the cross-country and today he showed off to the German fans. When the distance isn’t perfect he just jumps higher.

“Our partnership is the key, it’s all down to trust and a special bond - and I am so proud of him,” said Collett, who was putting to bed a fall at the venue in 2019 at the FEI European Championships.

A rail would have been costly for Kitty King but Vendredi Biats jumped like a dream and with a beautiful round they held onto second place, which they moved up to from third after the cross-country. It was also redemption for the pair who had mishaps at Burghley last year and Badminton last month.

“I didn’t feel any pressure today. It’s been the perfect week so far and I would have been happy with any outcome. He felt great in the warm-up and I really enjoyed our show jumping today. He had a blast yesterday and absolutely loves jumping. I couldn’t be prouder of him!”

Yasmin Ingham also showed everyone how it’s done, producing a fantastic clear with Rehy DJ, a 14-year-old gelding bred by Noel L. Russell who was first produced in Ireland by Co Wicklow veterinary surgeon and equine dentist Aoife Quigley.

Ingham commented: “I have a lot of trust in piglet [Rehy DJ]. He’s such a super horse and I’m so happy to ride him. We call him piglet, because he’s always so happy. We share a special bond, I have had him for a long time now, I got him when he was six and we grew up together – from the Young Rider European Championships to five-star level.”

British High Performance coach Chris Bartle was full of praise for the top three. “Of course they have super horses, as they keep pointing out but these girls are just brilliant, they build them up so well and have developed the special partnership between horse and rider. And this partnership is key!”

Best of the Irish in 11th place was Susie Berry with five-star first-timer Monbeg by Design (Pacino x Puissance), bred by Fiona Molloy and owned by Helen Caton. The pair were in 34th place after dressage but jumped to 17th with just 1.6 time penalties over Saturday’s cross-country course.

A single fence down on Sunday, over a track which yielded just seven clears, saw them improve again to 11th place.

Dressage

Collett and London 52 broke the dressage record at the venue on Friday when producing a classy score of 20.3 to take over the lead from compatriot Pippa Funnell who was best on Thursday with her former Burghley winner MGH Grafton Street (23.1), a 15-year-old ISH by OBOS Quality who, bred by Martin J Collins, has no recorded breeding on the dam side. King held third with Vendredi Biats on 26.8.

“He felt amazing. He’s obviously got so good in this phase, I was having a whale of a time. He was just so with me. You can just show him off, he loves it,” the leader commented after her brilliant test.

Cross-country

A total of 12 of the 39 starters finished inside the optimum time of 11 minutes over Mike Etherington-Smith’s cross-country course. There were 23 jumping clears and faults for the remaining 16 were spread over the 28 fences and, positively, there were no horse falls.

With another outstanding round, Collett held onto the lead and stayed on her dressage score when coming home inside the time.

“He’s just phenomenal. He’s so tall and has got a massive stride but he rides like a pony because he’s so adjustable. A lot of us slightly underestimated parts of the course. You had to be on your A game at every single fence,” she said afterwards.

King and Vendredi Biats moved up to second place with a clear inside the time, while Ingham and Rehy DJ moved to third. In second place overnight, Pippa Funnell picked up 15.6 time penalties to slip to 16th place.

Show jumping

The top five remained unchanged in the final phase when they all jumped clear rounds. Both King and Ingham were 0.4 of a second over the time allowed which meant when Collett entered the arena, she had a fence and some time penalties in hand, but didn’t need any of them when London 52 once again showed his class over the coloured poles to finish on his dressage score.

Afterwards, Collett signalled that a European title later this summer is firmly her goal, while a trip to her second Olympic Games next year in Paris is the ultimate aim.

“I feel like I messed up at the Tokyo Olympics and should have won an individual medal. So I’ll try and do that next year,” the winner said.

There were two more ISH in the top 10; they were Swallow Springs (Chillout x Cult Hero, bred by Maria Keating) in seventh with Oliver Townend, and Black Ice (Vechta x Touchdown, bred by Judith McClelland) in 10th under Germany’s Jérôme Robiné.

German championship

Reigning Olympic Champion Julia Krajewski won the CCI4*-S Meßmer Trophy and German Championship at the venue with Ero de Cantraie.

Krajewski was leading on the final day with her second mount, Nickel 21, but two fences down and a time penalty meant they slipped to third. However, also poised in second with Ero de Cantraie she kept a clean sheet to win on a score of 30.6 ahead of Christoph Wahler and D’Accord 70 (34.4) and an all-German top six.

Jennifer Kuehnle was one of two Irish to take on the four-star and she finished 17th with her father Hans’ 15-year-old mare Polly Blue Eyes on a final score of 53.6. Cathal Daniels withdrew CDS Cairnview Romolu before the second horse inspection. The pair were sitting in 21st place.