Equestrianism: Bourny edges ahead of Sleet

Franck Bourny, who spent two years as a working pupil with Mark Todd, held the advantage in the Copper Horse Section of the Arena Leisure Windsor International Horse Trials after the first day of dressage yesterday. Riding Belmont On The Road, the 27-year-old Frenchman is just 1.01pt ahead of the long-time leader, Marie Sleet on Sparrow Hall, with Amanda Ratcliffe a close third on Dashing Digby.

Belmont is owned by John and Chloe Perry whom Bourny first met when he went to try one of their horses two years ago. The 10-year-old failed to complete the course here last September, when he was pulled up by Bourny after the steeplechase because he was "not feeling right".

Sleet competed as a part-time rider while working as a sales representative until Lucinda Green suggested that she should "quit the day job and do eventing full-time". Sparrow Hall has yet to complete a three-day event, as he fell in the cross-country at Waregem, Belgium, in 2000 and again at Necarne, Northern Ireland, last year.

Ratcliffe's Dashing Digby has similar three-day form. He was withdrawn at Blair in 2000 because the rider had been kicked on her knee; he lost a shoe and went lame on the cross-country at Burgie last year, and then failed the first horse inspection here in September.