Cowboy Godignon finds his range

John Whitaker's finely judged round on Virtual Village Welham looked good enough to win the Prix des Ecoliers, yesterday's opening contest of the Paris Horse Show, until Herve Godignon came in last to the 21-horse jump-off and cut 1.36sec off the Briton's time.

There could not have been more of a contrast between the rounds. Whitaker, though he cut corners to the bone, maintained a wonderfully smooth rhythm on his 17-year-old Olympic partner. Godignon's round on Amoros Revillon looked like a cowboy display in comparison, but it provided a home victory for France.

"He is rideable now but still a bit difficult," Godignon said of Amoros. "I had to go fast, there was no choice because he gets worse if you hold him back."

Godignon wondered, with a wry grin, whether this was a good preparation for the Grand Prix Rolex which Amoros is due to contest tonight. Welham, on the other hand, seemed to be given an excellent preparation for the Volvo World Cup qualifier in which he will compete tomorrow after a day's rest.

"I hoped I could win today without going crazy," Whitaker said, having so nearly fulfilled that aim. Apart from one small midweek contest at Markham in Leicestershire, this was Welham's first contest since Olympia in December but there were certainly no signs of him being ring rusty.

Michael Whitaker was the only other Briton to reach yesterday's jump- off, but his chance quickly evaporated when Virtual Village Ashley ran out after a short turn to the second fence. Having circled back to jump it, he had the same fence down and thereafter concentrated on giving the nine-year-old a quiet school round the remainder of the track.

The Prix des Ecoliers takes its name from the audience of noisy schoolchildren, who file into Bercy's Palais Omnisports each year to watch the opening contest of the show. The roaring and stamping is an a new experience for some of the younger horses - among them Virtual Village Niko, who, according to his rider, Geoff Billington, had his eyes out on stalks. "It's all part of the learning curve, I thought he jumped well apart from the two fences he had down," he said.