His mount Tamarillo followed up a flawless display in the difficult cross-country section with a neat show jumping routine on Sunday.

Fox-Pitt also placed second with his other horse Ballincoola.

The top six riders were all British, Mary King taking third and fourth with Imperial Cavalier and Apache Sauce.

While all the drama had been confined to Saturday - when in appalling conditions only 37 of the 59 competitors starting the cross-country finished - Fox-Pitt and Tamarillo still had work to do on the final day.

But they were given a huge lift when American rider Philip Dutton on Woodburn, just two fences behind Tamarillo in second place, withdrew overnight.

That meant that Dorset-based Fox-Pitt (39) had the first and second horses going into the show jumping, while King had third and fourth.

There was no change in the standings at the top - Fox-Pitt was able to have two fences down on Tamarillo and one on Ballincoola without that affecting the overall positions.

Afterwards, he said: "I'm so pleased for both the horses and particularly their owners. Today Tamarillo was a little bit flat and had a couple of poles down, but who cares?

"To be there with Ginny Elliott and Mark Todd is incredible. I'm very, very honoured."