MEATH’S Anna Duff saved the best until last at the two-star show at the Lake Arena at Wiener Neustadt on Sunday, when winning the last two classes of the six-day fixture. The Austrian venue saw classes running from Tuesday until Sunday last week (July 7th-12th).

Duff and her 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding MC Crosskeys (S Creevagh Ferro x Jumeirah by ARD VDL Douglas), bred by Matthew McBreen in Co Cavan and owned by Anna Duff, first of all won the two-star 1.45m Grand Prix of Wiener Neustadt on Sunday afternoon. There were 41 on the start list, six of whom jumped without penalty in round one to book a place in the jump-off.

Three faulted second time out, with the remaining three completing double clear rounds. Duff and her mount stopped the clock in 50.07 seconds, a mere 0.09 seconds ahead of runner-up Mandy Beger (GBR) on Starlet, who finished in 50.16. Third place went to Germany’s Ben Eric Jurgens on Zuerich 8 in a time of 52.75.

Dubbed the ‘Goodbye Competition’, the final class of the show was the 1.40m Accumulator, which also saw Duff finish on top of the podium, this time riding TMS Pienaar, an eight-year-old gelding by Im Special de Muze.

A start list of 27 saw 12 picking up the maximum 55 points, with Duff clocking the fastest time of 55.57 – this was almost two seconds ahead of nearest challenger Bianca Ruscher (AUT) on Ida RZH, who finished in 57.33.

The podium was completed by Maja Petes (HUN) on Gwen in a time of 57.61.