Equestrianism: Funnell holds nerve to claim Supreme glory

Pippa Funnell kept her cool in a fraught show jumping finale to the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials yesterday. She rode Supreme Rock to a polished clear round to record her first win in the great event and collect the first prize of £35,000. "It's been my dream to win Badminton since I was tiny," Funnell said, having added this coveted title to the two European championships she has already won with the Pitt-Lewthwaite syndicate's 14-year-old horse. She was delighted that two of her team-mates in last year's victorious European Championship team – William Fox-Pitt and Leslie Law – filled the next two places.

As usual, they show jumped in the reverse order of merit leaving Funnell, who was therefore last to go, under serious pressure. Admittedly she had been given the cushion of a fence in hand when Andrew Hoy and Darien Powers, who had been so magnificent across country when retaining second place on Saturday, came down to earth with four fences down which eventually dropped him to eighth. "I was very nervous," Funnell admitted after her immensely popular victory. "Show jumping is Rocky's weakest phase, but I'm convinced that horse knew how important it was today and he tried every inch of the way."

There had been much admiration for Funnell's pluck in riding such a positive cross-country round on Supreme Rock less than three weeks after the crashing fall that resulted in severe bruising of ligaments in her left leg.

But in the end it was William Fox-Pitt who put up the most heroic performance of the day. Unbeknown to the throng of spectators who lined his route, Fox-Pitt was suffering from a painful groin injury when he piloted Tamarillo to a fabulous clear round that was one of only five within the optimum time of 12mins 6secs. "Every fence hurt," he said, after his courageous performance.

Fox-Pitt has long regarded Tamarillo as a big hope for the future. Mary Guinness's 10-year-old bay gelding had not, however, attempted a four-star cross-country track until proving that point to the rest of us on Saturday. Yesterday Tamarillo jumped another splendid clear round – as did Shear H20, with whom Law was runner-up last year and third this time. Not to be outdone by the two above him, Law revealed that he has also been having physiotherapy, having gone "head first into the ground" at Weston Park last month.

Only two horses finished on their dressage scores: Tamarillo and the grey mare, Ginger, ridden by Germany's Andreas Dibowski who finished in fourth place, having failed to complete the course here last year.

Badminton newcomer, Kate Lambie, was best of the New Zealanders in fifth place on another mare, Nuform Alibi, after Blyth Tait had withdrawn Welton Envoy yesterday morning.

The Great Britain selectors will have been delighted with the top trio and with Polly Stockton, who took seventh place on Mark Todd's former mount, Eye Spy II. But there were also some disappointments, notably the cross-country falls of Jeanette Brakewell with Over to You and Rodney Powell with Flintstone IV, plus the withdrawal before the cross-country of King Solomon III, with whom Mary King was defending the Badminton title.

MITSUBISHI MOTORS BADMINTON HORSE TRIALS (Glos): Final Results: 1 Supreme Rock (P Funnell, GB) 37.81 penalties; 2 Tamarillo (W Fox-Pitt, GB) 41.81; 3 Shear H20 (L Law, GB) 47.2; 4 Ginger (A Dibowski, Ger) 48.8; 5 Nufarm Alibi (K Lambie, NZ) 53.0; 6 Michaelmas (H Antikatzides, Gre) 53.6; 7 Eye Spy II (P Stockton, GB) 53.8; 8 Darien Powers (A Hoy, Aus) 54.61; 9 New York (A Nicholson, NZ) 55.81; 10 Mr Smiffy (A Nicholson, NZ) 57.0.