FORM choice Terry Boon won the 30th Guardian Collections Bramham International Horse Trials after a solid performance over the three days.

Boon and Foreign Exchange lay in second place after the dressage test but took the lead midway through the second day when overnight leaders William Fox-Pitt and Moon Man retired at the 22nd fence with not enough gas left in the tank.

Boon then completed his cross country test clear within seven and a half seconds of the ten-minute limit to consolidate his lead and kept his head in the show jumping with another clear round to lift the trophy and secure his third successive win following victories at Withington Manor 'A' and Belton Park 'A'.

Olympic hopeful Fox-Pitt bounced back from the disappointing retirement of leader Moon Man to steal second from Marie Ryan, who ended up third and fourth.

Fox-Pitt's majestic poise and balance on Parkmore Ed was typified at the two water complexes as he coolly glided through both the Snuggledown Wash and Dry Me Pond at speed and made the challenging 17 and 18 combination of the Snuggledown Duck Down Pond look easy.

Under-25 rider Oliver Smith had demonstrated the hidden dangers earlier in the day when his mount The Magic Moment tripped on the step out and catapulted the 20-year-old ribs-first into the solid exit structure, although both horse and rider survived relatively unscathed.

Only three seniors went under or hit the allotted ten-minute cross country course time and all finished in the top ten. Marie Ryan was first out on Penny Royal III but despite a time and jumping clear, could not close the ten-point gap from the dressage and ended up fourth.

Her second horse, Sparrow Hall, lay in second place at the end of the second day but four show jumping penalties allowed Fox-Pitt through.

Further down the order were Olympian Leslie Law on Another Garrison in 11th with Olympic reserve Kristina Cook one place behind.

York-based Nicola Tweddle enjoyed a strong showing of vocal support and finished 16th on Diable Au Corps with 83.2 penalties, after a show jumping clear, but was stuck in 29th with Highland Loch II after picking up 26 show jumping penalties for a 100.2 final score.

Updated: 11:03 Monday, June 14, 2004