But it was John Whitaker who proved the popular winner of the Lalique Trophy as leading rider of the show, thanks to fourth place in the Grand Prix on Lord Z and a host of other useful placings. Meredith was second, ahead of Switzerland's Steve Guerdat, the early leader, and Nick Skelton, whose fence down in the Grand Prix on Arko cost him the title.

Meredith's achievement meant that Olympia's two main classes were won by lady riders who have taken German nationality, Helena Weinberg having won the previous day's £18,500 Sony Ericsson World Cup qualifier. For Meredith, 29, who married Marcus Beerbaum in 1998, it was a particularly pleasing victory as she has missed four months' riding due to breaking her leg in a fall at Hamburg.

"He's a fabulous horse but it's been a struggle getting everything together, which is why this win is so nice for me, she said. "Recently, I've been having a lot of rounds with one fence down because I was rather lacking in finesse."

For the second year running, Robert Smith finished runner-up in the Grand Prix, this time riding Kalusha.

And, further emphasising the female domination, Helen Weinberg won the opening class, the Christmas Eve Six Bar, in which she jumped five clear rounds down of a line of rising fences. In the next class, Germany's Otto Becker beat Tim Stockdale in the Champagne Taittinger Farewell Speed Stakes by just 0.45seconds.

Ticket sales at Olympia were up to a record 75,500 and the capacity crowd created a fabulous atmosphere night after night. Popular new additions to the schedule were the Celtic Dance, a graceful dressage display, and the dynamic Crazy Horse Band, while the finale, with its circus theme, was voted the best ever.