Equestrianism: Wright holds lead after dressage but Funnell stays on horizon

Matthew Wright kept the lead that he had established here on Thursday in the dressage phase of the Windsor International Horse Trials, but he now has Pippa Funnell hard on his heels.

Matthew Wright kept the lead that he had established here on Thursday in the dressage phase of the Windsor International Horse Trials, but he now has Pippa Funnell hard on his heels.

She rode her dressage test yesterday on the nine-year-old ex-racehorse, Blue Horizon, who has been with her for a year and is now competing in his first three-day event.

This has been a lucky venue for Blue Horizon's owners, Ian and Janet McIntyre, who provided Funnell with two of her three winners here - Marshland Rubio in 1996 and Burke's Boy in 2001.

While Pippa Funnell was in Windsor Great Park her husband, William, was competing on Britain's victorious show jumping team in the Super League Nations Cup in Rome, where they defeated formidable teams from the United States and Germany.

Two British riders - Nick Skelton on Arko III and Michael Whitaker on Portofino achieved two of the only three double clear rounds in the competition.Funnell had one error in the first round and two in the second on Cortaflex Mondriaan. Britain and the United States are now joint leaders on the Super League.