Townend, the overnight leader after a flawless cross country round, hit seven fences and incurred time faults, collecting a score of 31 which saw him and his mount Carousel Quest drop to eighth place.

 

Germany's Dirk Schrade jumped a beautiful clear round on King Arthus to claim the biggest victory of his career.

 

The jumping course appeared fairly straightforward but there were only four clear rounds.

 

Two of those came from Germany, back at the head of affairs after a disastrous European Championship, and Andreas Dibowski made it a German one-two when going clear also, on Euroridings Butts Leon.

 

The home side had plenty to cheer about when Pascal Leroy and the exciting prospect Minos de Petra finished third and Lucy Wiegersma was best of the British contingent in fourth on the equally promising youngster Granntevka Prince.

 

The achievements of the two German riders propelled them up the order of the HSBC FEI Classics, with Shrade taking second place behind Townend and Dibowski third.

 

Britain's William Fox-Pitt, last year’s winner, slipped to fourth place with 17th place at Pau on Macchiato.

 

Townend was not too disappointed with his performance today.

 

He said: "I've had an amazing season.

 

"Obviously this is a bit of a disappointment, but it doesn't take away from the horse's achievements this year, and to win the HSBC FEI Classics means a lot to me."

 

 

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October 2009: Townend secures HSBC FEI Classic with day remaining