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Britain's John Whitaker and Michael Aabo, of Denmark, agreed to call it a day at the end of the third round when the Puissance wall stood at seven foot.

But David Broome, of the British Show Jumping Association (BSJA) told The Times: "It is cheating the public.

"Under the rules of the competition, it can go to five rounds."

The Puissance, effectively a high jump on horseback, is one of the highlights of the Olympia schedule.

Broome, chairman of the BSJA's international affairs committee, added: "The atmosphere had been built up and it was disappointing for the spectators not to have at least one more round to see them attempting the wall."

I would have been happy to go on if we had been asked, but we both wanted to end on a good note and the organisers were quite happy for us to share John Whitaker

However, Whitaker defended the duo's decision.

"I would have been happy to go on if we had been asked, but we both wanted to end on a good note and the organisers were quite happy for us to share," he said.

"It's also nice to save the horse a bit because I'm riding him in the World Cup qualifier and the Grand Prix."

Whitaker was riding Exploit du Rouuard, the same horse he won the Puissance with over the maximum five rounds in Dublin in August and Belfast, a fortnight ago.

Earlier in the Friday session, Frenchman Philippe Rozier and Heritiere d'Adrier won the Christmas Cracker Stakes.

Triple World Cup-winner Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil clocked 51.78 seconds on Baloubet du Rouet after going first.

Rozier was the only one of the 37 starters who could beat his time, winning by 1.83.