Funnell underlines his class

William Funnell achieved his best ever victory on Cortiflex Amber du Montois when he won the hotly-contested Barcelona Grand Prix.

The mare, who possesses a huge jump, has an extremely sensitive mouth which is why several riders have passed her on. But Funnell is a very sympathetic jockey with good hands and excelled on her in Spain.

Meanwhile, the British team put up a dismal performance, one of their worst ever, when they finished 11th out of 13 in the Austrian Nation Cup at Linz.

They failed to reach the second round and none of the other teams were at anything like full strength. If they don't improve they will miss out on the Super League of Nations Cups which come into force in 2003.