Equestrianism: Open draws strong field

All six members of Britain's World Equestrian Games three-day event squad will be in action this weekend at Gatcombe Park, where the Doubleprint Festival of British Eventing begins this morning. The new name comes with the introduction of a novice championship to add to the already established Gatcombe titles that go to the winners of the open and intermediate sections.

The squad includes Pippa Funnell, with a strong chance of repeating her 1992 open title, and William Fox-Pitt, defending open and intermediate titles.

The British Open has been chosen as the first qualifier for the inaugural Eventing World Cup, which will be staged at Pau in France in October 2003. As a result the overseas challenge looks stronger than ever – although the world champion, New Zealand's Blyth Tait, is currently recovering from surgery.