{"piano":{"sandbox":"false","aid":"u28R38WdMo","rid":"R7EKS5F","offerId":"OF3HQTHR122A","offerTemplateId":"OTQ347EHGCHM"}}

Top rider’s Athens hopes dashed


  • William Funnell, a contender for one of Britain’s two individual Olympic show jumping places, has been forced to withdraw from the short-list because his top horse, the 2001 Horse & Hound Foxhunter champion, Cortaflex Mondriaan, has cracked a splint bone.

    “He couldn’t possibly come right in time for the four Super League Nations Cups [the final Olympic trials], so I’ve had to pull out,” says a bitterly disappointed William.

    Team manager Derek Ricketts says: “This is a major blow and a shock for both William and Britain; his horse has plenty of ability.”

    You may like...