LAURA Collett (GBR) rode a perfect show jumping round on London 52 under the greatest of pressure at the climax of the Agria FEI Eventing European Championship to become Britain’s 21st individual gold medallist since the classification began in 1955.

In the end, only 1.3 penalties separated Collett from her chief rival Michael Jung (GER), a three-time European champion and triple Olympic gold medallist, who was also faultless in the show jumping, on fischerChipmunk FRH. Tom McEwen (GBR) and JL Dublin deservedly took the individual bronze medal, also with a flawless show jumping round.

It was a ninth European gold medal for Collett, who first stood top of the podium 20 years ago at the pony Europeans. She is now an individual medallist at every level of the sport.

Collett and London 52 moved up from second to first place after the cross-country when she added just six time penalties to her dressage score of 20.6. Dressage leader Jung had 10 time penalties, which, when added to their phenomenal first phase score of 18.3, saw them go into show jumping in second on 28.3. Collett held it together under the pressure of going last in front of the home crowd and delivered the individual win with a lovely clear (0.4 for time) to finish the championships in style on 27. Jung finished on 28.3 and McEwen had a total of 33 penalties after adding 6.8 for time on day two to his dressage score of 26.2.

Dream come true

“I can’t tell you how much I’ve wanted this, especially for the horse, because I wanted to get him the championship he deserved,” said an emotional Collett of her own, Karen Bartlett and Keith Smith’s 16-year-old by Landos.

“There have been so many times I have felt I have let him down and now I’ve got the title I so wanted. We came so close in Paris [individual bronze] and to have another head-to-head with Michael - it’s what makes the sport so special.

“The words aren’t really there right now, but this is for him. Since he won our first 5* in Pau in 2020, I said if he never does anything again, he’s done more than I could ever dream of. To think what he’s done in those five years is a dream come true. This tops everything. These horses are so unbelievably special to keep coming back and producing the results that they do and come out and perform time and time again is unreal. Just to be at a European Championships, a local event for me as well, just that in itself felt special this week and then to be sat on a horse like him and for him to come up with the goods like he has in all three phases is, my vocabulary is not enough!”

In turn, Jung, who was on the gold medal-winning German team and collecting the 21st and 22nd medals of his extraordinary career, said: “I really enjoyed the whole week. We had three super rounds. Chipmunk is a special horse, and the team was well prepared and we had all the luck this time.

“FisherChipmunk was amazing in the dressage, in the cross-country and also in the show jumping. It’s been a really, really amazing week, also for the team. Very, very big thank you to a Family Fisher Group. It’s just amazing to have such a nice horse to ride, compete and be on in nearly every championship. It’s really not normal and to win the team gold medal in England. England is a very big country in the eventing sport, especially and the luck was on our side. It’s a great week.”

Tom McEwen, who has two Olympic team golds and an individual silver to his name, has now won an individual medal on JL Dublin, the European champion in 2021 with Britain’s Nicola Wilson. He said ‘Dubs’ was “phenomenal - and he was beaten by two of the best horses in the sport”.

Individual fourth went to Calvin Bockmann (GER) and The Phantom of the Opera. They started out on 30.9 for 16th after dressage, but rocketed up the leaderboard after producing the fastest clear across country adding just 5.6 time penalties for a final tally of 36.5. Fifth place went to Lea Siegl (AUT) and Van Helsing, who also finished on 36.5 after adding 9.6 time penalties to a dressage score of 26.9. French rider Alexis Goury and Je’Vall were sixth on 46.7.

Sarah Ennis with Dourough Ferro Class Act during the cross country for the FEI Eventing European Championships \ Pam Cunningham/Irish Eventing Times

Incredibly proud

As mentioned in the team report, Padraig McCarthy was the best-placed Irish individual in 12th, followed by Ian Cassells in 14th and Robbie Kearns was 18th.

Sarah Ennis, riding her own Dourough Ferro Class Act (ISH by Creevagh Ferro) as an individual was 15th. Clearly thrilled with her 10-year-old mount, Ennis was full of praise for him after the cross-country where they added 18 time penalties to a dressage score of 31. Ennis then had four show jumping and two for time in the final phase for a total of 55.

“He was jumping out of his skin, I’m so incredibly proud,” Ennis said after the cross-country. “In the warm up, I was a little bit concerned he was jumping too high and ballooning so I jumped a few fences, let him have a breather, jumped again. He was a little bit better but like, what a horse! You could put a two-year-old on him and he’d go round that track. Honestly, you just say go here and he’s like, okay, there’s the flags. I never had to squeeze him inside the flag. He’s just so honest. He loves it.”

Then, after her show jumping, she said she knew she had a ‘potential superstar’ on her hands. “He’s incredible I’m just so proud of him, the pole was definitely mine,” she said. “He is so full of beans today, we saw the horses on the cross-country and he was like ‘let’s go again’. I know what I have now, it’s really exciting. To get a horse up to this level is so hard and then to think you have a potential superstar..wow.”

Ireland’s other individual rider Susie Berry was disappointed to pick up 20 penalties for a runout on the cross-country with Clever Trick (ISH by Financial Reward) and started the final day in 34th, but moved up one spot to 33rd with a lovely show jumping round and just one pole down for a total of 87.5 penalties.

“She was super. She doesn’t find it naturally that easy but she always comes out on the last day and gives it her all. I was maybe a little deep in places for her, so I didn’t quite give her the perfect ride that I would have wanted to but I couldn’t have asked any more from her.” Regarding her run out on the cross-country, Berry said it was “one mistake in a faultless round”.

“She was just incredible like she always is. She runs quite on her head naturally, so I just let her do that. That is her. I’ve learned to ignore that but in that one instance I really needed to just take two seconds, get her head up, and let her see the fence. But she’s unaware that anything went wrong, she’s perfect.”

The best-placed ISH among the individuals was Black Ice, bred in Co Down by Judith McClelland (see Breeders’ 10, p84), who finished in eighth place with Jerome Robine (GER). The other ISH to complete (apart from the mounts of the Irish riders) in 22nd was Piltown Harry (Harlequin Du Carel), bred by Patrick Doody and ridden by Hungary’s Noémi Viola Doerfer, who was making her senior championship debut at Blenheim.