The tension was palpable as the Fidelity Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials came to a thrilling conclusion. The top three riders - Piggy French, Tiana Coudray and Bettina Hoy - came into the showjumping with less than two poles separating them. Watch our interview with the eventual winner, Piggy French, below.

Doing it for the girls

It was certainly a day for the ladies at Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials when Piggy French kept her cool to take the CCI3* with DHI Topper W. The pair continued their fine form after winning the Olympic Test Event earlier this year, scoring 43.1 in the dressage and going clear inside the time across country. They had one pole down in the showjumping, but their 6.3 penalty lead meant this didn’t affect their placing.

The USA had a great competition, with three riders finishing in the top ten, headed by Tiana Coudray in second. With a final score of 49.4, she jumped a fabulous double clear on the 10-year-old grey gelding Ringwood Magister. Tiana said afterwards: “It’s been a tough year all round as we’ve only completed about two or three events this year, so this is really special.”

Finishing in third on 49.7 was Bettina Hoy riding her own Lanfranco TSF, who led after the dressage, but picked up 7.6 time faults across country. The stunning dark brown gelding jumped a clear round to put a huge amount of pressure on Tiana. “He’s not an easy horse to ride, he’s a very complex horse,” said Bettina. “It’s taken a long time to really get him enjoying life and competing again.”

Ups and down of eventing

Despite Piggy’s elation about her win, it’s not quite the fairytale she may have pictured yesterday afternoon when she lay first and second after the cross-country. Unfortunately her first placed ride Lemington Lett Dance was withdrawn before the trot-up this morning, when he was found to be very sore. “I understand that that’s horses and that’s the sport,” she commented.

Another withdrawal was Pippa Funnell’s Billy Landretti, who was lying third after cross-country. The nine-year-old gelding mysteriously came up lame, with nothing showing up on the x-rays, and Pippa was forced to pull out before the inspection. It wasn’t all upsets for the former Rolex Grand Slam winner, though, as she finished fourth on Billy Shannon. We can only speculate what the top five would have looked like had Pippa and Piggy not been forced to pull out.

Olympic qualification

In the team event, the Japanese riders achieved their goal of 2012 Olympic qualification, leaving the Australians and Irish teams still searching for a spot in London. With two riders in the top 30 and their standard of competition only improving, the Japanese may well prove to be ones to watch at next year's Games.

Take a look through our photo gallery (below) to catch up with the showjumping action and watch our interview with Piggy (above) to find out what she thought of her win and Lemington Lett Dance’s withdrawal.

Final results:

1^st – Piggy French (GBR) & DHI Topper W, 47.1

2^nd – Tiana Couldray (USA) & Ringwood Magister, 49.4

3^rd – Bettina Hoy (GER) & Lanfranco TSF, 49.7

4^th – Pippa Funnell (GBR) & Billy Shannon, 52.1

5^th – Clark Montgomery (USA) & Loughan Glen, 53.4

6^th – Vittoria Panizzon (ITA) & Borough Pennyz, 54.4

7^th – Clarke Johnstone (NZL) & Orient Express VI, 55.9

8^th – Will Faudree (USA) & Pawlow, 56.1

9^th – Charlotte Agnew (GBR) & Out Of Africa Two, 56.3

10^th – William Fox-Pitt (GBR) & Gaucho, 58.4