Thursday's feature class was won by one of the sport’s greats – Britain’s Michael Whitaker. He won the Bunn Leisure Trophy on Quelbora Merze (by Tarzan de Beaulieu) , heading a 55-strong class and beating Germany’s Christian Ahlmann by just a few hundredths of a second. Fellow Brit William Funnell took third with the homebred Billy Angelo (Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Kroongraaf).

“You could see he had something in him, he has been building up to it having been placed a few times - and it has all come right on the day,” said Michael, who is on the British squad for tomorrow’s Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ of Great Britain.