The British Dressage team set Hickstead alight when they achieved their best result for ten years.

Britain captured the European Championship bronze medal behind Germany and Spain and clinched qualification for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

"What a consistent team effort, and we were even pushing the silver," said ecstatic team performance manager Ferdi Eilberg after Britain finished only 22 marks adrift of Spain.

In 1993 at Lipica, Britain won European team silver helped by Emile Faurie, the individual bronze medallist, on Virtue.

Faurie's marks gave him 23rd on Rascher Hopes, but the other three British riders, Emma Hindle on Wie Weltmeyer, Nicola McGivern on Active Walero and Richard Davison on Ballaseyr Royale produced best ever dressage tests to be 10th, 12th and 14th.

"We've never had three horses with 70 poer cent markings before," added Eilberg.

"Both girls were extremely cool under pressure on their championship debut, they stayed focussed.

"I tried to give them all their individual space, so that they could concentrate and perform in front of their home crowd. That can add to the pressure."

Hindle, McGivern, Davison and Faurie all won through to the top 25 for today's second round of the individual championship, the Grand Prix Special.

The best 15 qualify for the Kur Freestyle to music on Sunday, the individual medal finale.

Jane Annett scored one of the best wins of her career when she took the Osborne Refrigerators Derby Trial on Cullawn Diamond, in a jump-off duel with Damien Charles and Romulus.

Annett, 31, won the Speed Derby in 1997 on Pipakie, the mare who took her to second place in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 2001 and 4th in the Derby last year.

When Oxted rider Charles lowered the second last in the Derby Trial jump-off, Annett had only to go clear to win, and this she did in style as Cullawn Diamond completed the only double clear.

Annett, coached by Duncan Inglis in Cuckfield, is undecided about whether to start in tomrrow's Derby Royston Speed Stakes: 1 Quando Blue (R Barton) 0 in 79.43, 2 Catella AW (A Pohlmann-Schweckhorst, Ger) 0 in 80.13, 3 Fresh Direct Landed Gentry (T Stockdale) 4 in 81.41, 4 Great Love II (E Whitaker) 8 in 86.38, 5 Ravel (R Whitaker) 12 in 87.01