Top British event rider Piggy French saw her hopes of landing a first elite four-star title washed away in torrential rain at Luhmuhlen yesterday.
Piggy dropped from overnight leader to fourth place after her four-star debutant Flying Machine knocked two showjumping fences down.
Home favourite Andreas Dibowski, born an hour away from Luhmuhlen in Hamburg, cranked up the pressure on thirty-year-old French by going clear aboard his 2008 German Olympic team gold medal horse Euroridings Butts Leon.
It meant that Leicestershire-based French, who was second behind the legendary Mark Todd at Badminton two months ago, had no margin for error when she entered the arena as the final competitor.
And despite making a confident start as the rain poured down, Flying Machine collected eight faults during the second half of a testing course.
It left Dibowski just under £30,000 richer as the winner with 39.80 penalties, while his fellow German riders Sandra Auffarth and Frank Ostholt filled second and third spots, respectively.
Dibowski said: “I have been riding here for twenty-two years, and so the pressure to win Luhmuhlen has been building. This is a very special day for me. We haven’t had the best weather, but we have had the very best conditions (thanks to the new all-weather arenas). It is important that the first rider to go gets the same conditions as the very last one.”
French collected £8,000, leading the British challenge with 46.40 penalties. Oliver Townend and ODT Master Rose finished seventh, Mary King and Apache Sauce finished eighth and William Fox-Pitt with Macchiato finished in ninth.
Like French, both Mary and William had eight faults, as only two of the top ten finishers – Dibowski and Australian Clayton Fredericks – jumped clear.
French is likely to be back at Luhmuhlen in late August as part of the Great Britain team for its European title defence, while she is among three British riders who will participate in the Olympic Test Event at Greenwich Park, starting a fortnight tomorrow.
Piggy has now climbed to second place overall in the HSBC FEI Classics series.
Luhmuhlen was the third of five competitions that comprise the Classics, with leader King eight points clear of French, and Todd a further five behind.
The next event in the series is the much anticipated Burghley Horse Trials which take place in early September; and will continue to provide a strong form guide ahead of London 2012.
