"I am so proud of Lou going out there and being a superstar - I couldn't fault him. He was tired but still gave so much."
Marshall's plan for the competition was to jump the first round on the opening day of the three day event and take it from there.
Lou was clear in the first round, so they took a chance on the second where they picked up four faults and were the only combination clear in the final round on Sunday.
Havelock North's Melody Matheson steered Cortaflex Giulia MH to victory in the East Coast Performance Horses 5-year-old Championship final.
The combination has been together for a year and a half but it was only in October that Giulia started to understand show jumping.
"She just wasn't quite sure of herself so I did some show hunter and I think that has been good for her," Matheson said.
Auckland horseman Daniel Blundell won the highly competitive FEI CSI1* class with Athena NZPH, ahead of Olympian Samantha McIntosh aboard Takapoto James S from Cambridge.
It was a three-way jump-off in the Dunstan Fiber Fresh 4-year-old championship final.
Laura Knight aboard Sentosa, Jaime Campbell with Calico Xtreme and Dannevirke's Alexa Dodson aboard Corvette ECPH went head to head for top honours – with Knight finishing in first.
The NZPH 5-year-old style prize was won by Takapau's Kim Carrington on Double J Typhoon.
Full time rider and trainer Jaime Campbell took out the 6-year-old championship aboard Corocat Xtreme and was second with Caspian Xtreme.
