Saumur, France—May 25 

Land Rover Competition Grant recipient Doug Payne closed out a successful weekend with Crown Talisman at the Saumur CCI*** in France on Sunday by dropping one rail to finish in sixth place.

The final day of competition held plenty of drama as France’s overnight leader, Propriano de l’Ebat ridden by Luc Chateau, wasn’t accepted at the final horse inspection. A total of 41 combinations went forward to show jumping, and only six of those produced fault-free efforts over Jean-Francois Morand’s 12-obstacle track.

Payne, Apex, N.C., and Larry and Amelia Ross’ 11-year-old Holsteiner-Thoroughbred gelding had a rail down at fence five in an otherwise immaculate round to finish the weekend on a score of 54.2.

With their sixth-placed finish in Saumur, the talented combination recorded their second top 10 CCI*** placing after finishing fourth at the 2013 Dutta Corp Fair Hill International (Md.).

The top three finishers at Saumur all belonged to the host nation as Maxime Livio, Donatien Schauly ADJ and Thibaut Vallette CNE were able to produce clear rounds for France. Livio and Qalao des Mers collected the winner’s spoils finishing on their dressage score of 41.2, with Schauly earning second place on Cadiz on 48.4, and Vallette finishing third with Qing du Briot ENE HN on 48.6.

See full results on the Saumur site.