German domination of the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships was completed at Blair Castle yesterday with victory in the team event and an individual triumph for Michael Jung and their British coach was unrepentant about helping force his compatriots into second spot.

With the Queen in attendance to hand out the prizes Chris Bartle, who has worked with the Germans for 14 years, was challenged, ahead of yesterday’s decisive show-jumping phase, as to what he might say to her majesty by way of justifying his disloyalty and offered a somewhat irreverent riposte.

“I think I would probably politely remind her majesty that if she looks back through her pedigree there’s quite a lot of German,” he replied.

In the current environment we can only speculate as to what sort of diplomatic angst might have been generated had Gordon Strachan made a similar comment after his team’s defeat by Germany down the road at Hampden a few days earlier. However in this company Bartle’s remarks were always going to be treated in the spirit in which they had been put forward and, in terms of broader international relations, might serve as a timely reminder to some of those seeking to drive wedges between the UK and the Continent.

If she was aware of Bartle’s remarks there was meanwhile no sign of it having affected the monarch’s demeanour as she cheerfully hung the medals around German necks at the end of this pan-European contest, which had particular importance because most of those competing – the already qualified Germans and British apart – were vying for places at next year’s Olympics, yet remained a convivial affair.

The atmosphere was a curious cocktail containing flavours of Highland Gathering, game fair and queen’s garden party with a trace of Edinburgh Tattoo tartanisation, hints of WRI catering and, in the show-jumping arena, a touch of Cruft’s, all surrounding true Olympian level athleticism among both the human and elegantly-lined equine competitors.

Jung, the Olympic champion and Sandra Auffarth, the world champion, had smoothly rounded off the competition with clear rounds in the show-jumping to secure their places at the head of the field, Jung having edged ahead of his team-mate with one of only three faultless rounds within the time limit during Saturday’s cross country, the blue riband element of a packed four days of equine activity which incorporated all sorts of competitions as well as the European Championships

Inevitably, at the end of this Scottish sporting summer that began with Afghani cricketers registering their dismay as they killed time while watching pitches being covered, uncovered and re-covered and during which the jewel in the crown that was the Open Championship was all but washed and then blow-dried into the North Sea, the elements could hardly have been more vindictive on that most popular of days when even with Aberdeen and Celtic contesting top spot in the Premiership, this unlikely corner of Perthshire attracted Scotland’s biggest sports crowd of the day.

After perhaps the best week’s weather of the year the temperature dropped on Saturday and the water table was once again, causing major problems as Ian Stark’s eye-catching, Scottish themed course had to be overhauled midway through the contest with the meat component of his quirky ‘Haggis ‘neeps and tatties,’ fence having to be removed.

If nothing else, however, the equestrian community are hardy sorts, so the queues into Blair Atholl were lengthy as vast crowds squeezed into the little town, an estimated attendance of approaching 20,000 all the more remarkable in this under-populated part of the world given that it was, remarkably, directly up against, right down to start time, a major annual local event, the Pitlochry Highland Games.

They got the chance to witness Jung at his most imposing, his performance so good that even after Auffarth went clear in the show-jumping, he could afford to have a couple of fences down and some time faults and still take the individual title.

He needed no such leeway of course, cruising round clear well under the time limit and Alex Lochore, the event director, paid tribute all of the winning team.

“I’m slowly learning the words to the German national anthem over the parties of the last few years,” he quipped.

“The team have worked very hard and I’m very proud of what’s been achieved. The eventing world has come to this beautiful part of Scotland and enjoyed it. There have been a few challenges, including the rain yesterday, but the best team won. They made easy work of a bit of Scotsh mist and I hope everyone goes home with a fond memory of Blair Castle.”

The only major disappointment for the crowds was that the lone Scottish competitor Wills Oakden was forced to withdraw his horse, Greystone Midnight Melody, from the final day’s show-jumping but on his senior international championship debut he had earned considerable praise for fine performances in the dressage and cross country.

France and Sweden meanwhile claimed the last two guaranteed places at Rio for their all round performances.