Equestrianism: Whitaker triumph boosts British

He defeated the reigning Olympic champion, Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa on Queen Z, by 0.53sec - with Belgium's Dirk Demeersman just behind in third place. Whitaker had already won contests in Calgary and Dublin before he added the famous arena here to his scenes of victory.

William Funnell, the other British rider to reach the jump-off with Cortaflex Tibor, had one fence down in the race against the clock to finish in eighth place. Ellen Whitaker had just the two time faults in the first round with Locarno, who now looks certain to be included on the British team for tomorrow's Super League Nations Cup.

Pessoa had also been runner-up when Bernardo Alves had the audacity to beat his famous fellow Brazilian when he rode Canturo to win the earlier Warsteiner Preis von Europa. Last to go in the jump-off, 30-year-old Alves defeated Passoa by 1.13sec. He also pushed Britain's Nick Skelton, who had held the lead earlier on Arko III, down to third place.