Nick and Arko make it a double in Lucerne

Britain's Nick Skelton scored a back-to-back double of Grand Prix victories with Arko when, just one week after coming out on top in Rome, he took the Longines title in Lucerne, Switzerland today.

In a real thriller of a competition he had the advantage of being last into the ring in the jump-off and he could afford the luxury of a single time fault as he rode to success.

World No.1, Marcus Ehning, finished second ahead of fellow-German Christian Ahlmann in third while Laura Kraut steered Miss Independent into fourth spot for the USA.

The oxer at fence two caught several off-balance while the double of oxer-to-oxer at fence four also created plenty of problems. The wall at fence five was followed on a left-hand turn by the triple bar and from here the track just got tougher and tougher with the spread of the triple bar drawing horses on to the following water, and riders then struggling madly to regain control ahead of those nasty white planks which had been causing problems all week and which now stood a full 1.60m tall. Riders who managed to survive that line then had to face another strong oxer at fence nine followed by a double of rustic verticals with water trays under each element. The distance was attempted on a variety of strides, but whether arriving deep or a little long, the rustic poles kept coming down and yet the challenge was still not complete. Another big oxer, more than 1.50m high and a full 1.70m wide, led to a tight right-hand turn down the final line that included a treble combination – vertical, oxer, vertical – and the last fence, a colossal oxer with a spread of 1.80m. Power, accuracy, quick reactions and, with the time allowed of 81 seconds proving tight, speed were all essential requirements.

Skelton, a veteran of many tough days in the ring said afterwards “this course was more difficult than last week in Rome, probably because the arena is smaller so the fences came up a lot quicker”.

The first round was divided into two halves, the initial 26 of the 54 starters jumping early in the day before the class was interrupted by a 75-minute break. Ireland's Marion Hughes produced the only fault-free effort in the first group, Heritage Transmission putting in a superb performance for the rider who is only just back in action herself having
given birth to her second daughter, Marta, just over two months ago but the competition format, which left them side-lined for several hours before returning to the ring, may well have influenced the partnership's second-round effort.

Christine McCrea was seventh to go with Promised Land who lowered the front element of the double at four and both elements of the rustic double at 10 while also picking up two time penalties, and the degree of difficulty was under-lined when Marcus Ehning, so consistently brilliant with all of his horses and currently both leading rider in the world and World Cup champion, hit the planks with Gitania when pathfinder for the second group. It was clear by now that four faults would easily earn a second-round qualifying spot and when Molly Ashe and Neuville, who survived an exciting run from the water to the planks, clipped the front rustic at 10 their four faults was still going to see them make the cut.

Three horses later, Skelton recorded the second clear of the competition with a great round from Arko, and then Candice King ensured a double-entry into the closing stages for the USA when steering Tarco clear all the way to the penultimate treble where they lowered the first element before finishing without further ado. Germany's Christian Ahlmann secured the third and last clear performance of the first round with Coster, and Margie Engle looked like she might join the four-fault qualifying group after hitting the second, only to fault again at the first part of the treble for a total of eight. Engle opted to ride Quervo Gold in the Grand Prix and, although she didn't make it into the deciding round, she proved without doubt that her nerve is intact and her body is in recovery after the punishing fall she took in Aachen two weeks ago. Laura Kraut and Miss Independent were the final partnership into the ring first time out and gave a good account of themselves to complete with five faults when adding one time penalty to the four collected at – yes indeed – the same tricky rustic vertical at fence 10 that caught both McCrea and Ashe along with so many others.

The jump-off starting order was decided by faults and time and, first of the 13 to take on the track, Kraut put it up to the rest of them when maintaining her five-fault tally with an excellent clear this time out. She kept improving up the order as Switzerland's Werner Muff and Plot Blue, the French partnership of First de Launay and Florian Angot and Dutch riders Gerco Schroder with Eurocommerce Berlin and Jeroen Dubbeldam riding BMC Up and Down all faulted. The turn to the triple bar proved the undoing of both Candice King and Molly Ashe as they each lost their impulsion and were left to scramble the fence for four faults but while King dropped out of the reckoning with another two on the floor, Ashe returned with nothing more to add despite having to pull up ahead of the penultimate double when a sudden gust of wind blew it down. When Britain's John Whitaker and his promising new ride Peppermill had a fence down Kraut's position was still improving, but Ehning added nothing to his initial error when crossing the line in 44.47 seconds. The home side's Urs Faeh and As Garry had been most impressive when collecting just a single first-round time penalty but were to complete with a total of seven and when Hughes made a double-error then Kraut could finish no lower than fourth.

With the American on five faults and team-mate Ehning on four, only Skelton stood between Ahlmann and victory if he could leave all the fences up, but an unlikely error at the very first hit that on the head and his time of 45.31 seconds left him trailing his fellow-countryman. As Skelton cantered into the ring he had a choice – kick on in case of a mistake or go for a slow clear which would clinch the class. “I had the advantage of going last and I saw Christian Ahlmann have his fence down so I decided to take a risk and go for a steady clear” Skelton said afterward. “Arko always tries really hard to clear the fences and I knew that if I had any luck we would do it” – and they did, the bouncy bay stallion springing home happily in the time of 52.25 seconds which earned him a time penalty but still left him clear winner of the class.