MJ Tumbridge says she is determined the lay the ghost of Bermuda's Gold by leading her new hope to glory.

Tumbridge's world collapsed at the Sydney Olympics in September 2000 when Bermuda's Gold suffered a tragic fall while competing in the cross country stage of the event.

At just the second jump the tiny Pan Am gold medal winning mare clipped the top of an obstacle and pulled up having shattered its hind leg. The horse was subsequently put down.

At first Tumbridge was not sure if she wanted to get on a horse again, but two years on she is glad she got back in the saddle and is determined to bring a medal back to these shores from next year's Pan Ams and maybe even the Olympics in 2004.

Tumbridge (38), sponsored by Gosling's Black Seal Rum, is currently in Bermuda but will head back to her base in England before the new year to begin preparations with Lily the Pink - one of two horses she has high hopes for - the other being Ginger May Killinghurst.

"Lily the Pink and Ginger May Killinghurst are the highest qualified of my horses at the moment," she said. "They are both very good show jumpers and very good cross country horses. Because they are just seven and eight years old they are a little bit greener on the flat but they are making great progress.

"Both these horses have made people's heads turn and English riders would not mind having either of them. We are very lucky to have them in our camp."

Of the two it is Lily that Tumbridge favours. She was bought from Blythe Tait, who has won gold at the Olympics and the World Championships for New Zealand.

"Because he knows that I am very interested in mares he brought her to my attention," said Tumbridge, who has competed in two events with the horse so far and will head to France next year for a three star event that hopefully will see her qualify for the Pan Ams.

"She is so fantastic at jumping - this thing has her knees up by her chest and jumps for fun. Her showjumping is incredible and in cross country you just feel like you're flying - it's an amazing feeling. Dressage is greener, but something has to be greener and it's all there."

Tumbridge said she still thinks back to Sydney and to Bermuda's Gold but these days she spends more time looking forward.

"What she (Bermuda's Gold) achieved was amazing and I hope she never gets forgotten. I won't even compare them because to me there will be never be another horse as good as that," she said.

"Obviously you get left with scars, like it or not, but I look at them and I see what they can do and they can come home with the gold."

The Pan Ams are a stepping stone to Athens and Tumbridge is confident she will be there to compete among the world's best.

"The Olympics have not always been dear to me, I have never really achieved what I wanted and after Sydney I didn't know if I even wanted to attack it again," she said.

"But I want to get rid of that ghost. I want to get rid of the feeling that the Olympics is not good for me. The horses that I have are capable of doing the business or I wouldn't have them."