than 60 riders to win the Blair Castle International Horse Trials in Perthshire, Scotland.

Parnell, who represented the Island at the last Olympics in Barcelona three years ago, rode superbly on her eight-year-old Irish thoroughbred, Castle Blayney, owned by her father.

Competing against internationals from 16 different nations, among them New Zealand's three-time Olympic champion Mark Todd who eventually had to settle for fifth overall, she registered a score of 49.4 points on the first day's dressage to hold down fifth place.

The second day's endurance test saw Parnell finish eight seconds under the alotted time to remain on 49.4 points which pulled her up to second place behind Great Britain's Lucinda Murray on Beacon Hill II.

Then in Sunday's show jumping she leapt into the lead to stay with an impressive clear round.

Murray brought down one of the fences for a five point penalty and was relegated to second with a final points score of 50.0, just .6 behind Parnell.

An estimated crowd of 10,000 watched the three-day event after which prizes were presented by the Duke of Athol.

Castle Blayney will now be rested until January while Parnell and her husband and daughter will return to Bermuda in early November.

Nicola DeSousa Parnell