Trevor Coyle's lead in the western European league of the World Cup lasted a mere six days after his victory in Geneva. With no points to add from Saturday's qualifier at Olympia, the Co Armagh rider has now been overtaken by Switzerland's Beat Mandli.
But it was Britain's John Whitaker who had the beating of them all on Saturday, with the veteran Virtual Village Grannusch finally providing the horsepower for Whitaker to clinch one of the few classes that has eluded him in a star-studded career, earning him £12,000 in prize money, a £5,000 holiday in Barbados and a computer.
Finland's Aki Ylanne had produced a masterly track and the conundrum proved insoluble to all but nine of the field. Trevor Coyle and the stallion Cruising, who have two wins to their credit in the current World Cup series, went out with two mistakes, but Peter Charles was even more unlucky when Traxdata Nustria left all the fences standing but stopped at the planks to leave both the Irish out of the points.
Incredibly, only the British and the Swiss could find the key to Ylanne's course and, with nine through to the timed round, the hosts had twice as many as their overseas rivals.
Michael Whitaker, who had finished third behind Coyle at Millstreet, set the pace with a sparkling clear from Virtual Village Ashley to stop the clock on 30.66, but the target held for less than a minute as brother John followed Lesley McNaught into the arena riding the incredible 19-year-old Grannusch.
Winner of both the first two legs at this year's World Cup final, Grannusch more than justified joint-favouritism at Olympia, snaking his way round the course at a speed that would have done Michael Schumacher proud. And the clock told the tale, with the older Whitaker slicing off well over two seconds for a standard that couldn't be bettered.
Beat Mandli came closest with the stallion Poor Boy, with a deficit of just 0.66, leaving the Swiss in second ahead of Michael Whitaker, boosting Mandli to the top of the western European league, 15 points clear of Trevor Coyle.
Saturday wasn't a good day for Peter Charles. After his stop with Nustria in the Cup, his Berlin Grand Prix winner Carnavelly refused to have anything to do with the National Lottery fence in the evening class. But fortunes continued to plummet in the Charles camp on Sunday morning when Peter's groom, who refuses to be known as anything other than Dynamite, fell heavily in the grooms' jumping class.
Riding Charles' Dublin Puissance champion T'Aime, Dynamite actually finished second in the jump-off, falling after the finish and lying motionless in the arena. She was immobilised and stretchered off to a waiting ambulance for immediate transfer to Charing Cross hospital. She was discharged yesterday afternoon after x-rays revealed no broken bones and is now recovering from concussion at her parents' home in London.
There was no Irish interest in yesterday's Vink Masters, worth a possible £21,000 to the winner. Germany and Switzerland fielded two apiece, with World Cup winner John Whitaker representing the home side along with one for Holland and one for France.
But it was Germany's Lars Nieberg who outlasted his rivals in the winner-take-all knockout, remaining faultless through four rounds with the 10-year-old stallion Loro Piana Albertino to claim the £11,000 winner's purse.
Irish input in the P&O Father Christmas Stakes was limited to just Trevor Coyle when Peter Charles and Traxdata Nustria connected with the stile in the first round. But Coyle's hopes evaporated at the second fence against the clock when Cruising failed to make a tight turn, digging in his toes for a costly three faults.
Michael Whitaker made no such mistake however, powering round with his Millstreet World Cup ride Virtual Village Hilton to slice 0.43 off the time set by Rodrigo Pessoa to relegate the world champion to the runner-up slot and leave Coyle fifth.
