She has an advantage of 4.6pts over the Duke of Edinburgh driving the Queen's team of Fell ponies, who are used as pack animals on the royal estate at Balmoral.ROYAL WINDSOR HORSE SHOW: Traxdata Great Park Stakes: 1 Virtual Village Showtime (N Skelton, GB) clear, 56.52sec; 2 Di Jacomo (H-H Engemann, Ger) clear, 61.48; 3 Punjab (J -M Nicolas, Fr) clear, 63.67. He scored 67.27 per cent to beat Joanna Jackson on Mester Mouse and Lizzie Loriston-Clarke on Catherston Dazzler.Georgina Frith, who holds the European Championship for teams of four ponies, has taken the lead in her section with her nimble Welsh ponies. He held a substantial lead of 6.9pts after yesterday's dressage phase and, now 63, will be looking for an easy drive in today's marathon.Bowman's son, confusingly known as George Bowman IV, also hopes to get to the Games. NICK SKELTON added two more victories to his tally at the Royal Windsor Horse Show when he completed a double yesterday with Thursday's winning horse, Virtual Village Carte Gene.

The eight- year-old was again in sparkling form when defeating LBH Heartbreaker, the mount of Dutchman Peter Geerink, by 4.32sec in the Hildon Gentlemen's Jumping Championship. He holds the lead in the horse pairs section here but he will be competing with a team of four horses in future contests this year.Carl Hester, who seems sure to be in Britain's dressage team at the Games, underlined his claims by winning the Hermes Grand Prix on Legal Democrat. He will not attempt to put Showtime back up to a higher level again by aiming her at this year's World Equestrian Games in Italy, but (contrary to the impression he gave here on Thursday) he has not totally ruled out the idea of trying to get there with one of his younger horses.George Bowman, runner-up in the last two World Championships for driving four-horse teams, has every intention of competing in the Games. Skelton's winning margin had been even more convincing when he took the Traxdata Great Park Stakes on his Olympic mount, Showtime, who lost some of her enthusiasm through her efforts in Atlanta but has found a new lease of life after a few months out in the field. "She's fast and careful, when you put her down a level there's no better horse," Skelton said, after defeating Germany's Heinrich-Hermann Engemann by 4.96sec. We ended the day at six, everyone but me with Rutland Blush.Orvis are having a rod demonstration today at Syon Park Fishery, Brentford, from 10am, where you will be able to try out new rods, see new products and have expert casting instruction.Rutland Water Reservoir: 01780 686441.Syon Park Fishery: 0171 494 2660..

Alan gave me the smallest bottle of whisky in the world (doll's house size) as a consolation prize for having forgotten my hip flask that I usually keep full to bursting with some nice malt. On this stretch, Nigel diligently alternated my leaded buzzer with a Minkie. I got two glorious pulls but alas I was too slow to hook them. I had to content myself with the memory of the near-takes, which I mentally replayed over and over and over in the sad way that fishermen do. A nice log fire, a cigar humidor and a few leather armchairs would not have gone amiss, something like the facilities at Roger Daltrey's fishery, Lakedown at Burwash.

Boardman was carried from the course with a fractured wrist and ankle.He came back with a string of victories, including an Olympic bronze, and regained the world hour record (56.375 kilometres) and the world 4,000m pursuit title, also with a world record Both were in Manchester and to deafening adulation. Then it went quiet, by Boardman's standards.He wore the Tour yellow last year after winning the opening time trial in Rouen, and won a bronze medal in the World Time Trial Championship in San Sebastian."I was scarred by last year's poor results," he said. "I thought I had arrived at the point where things stopped going up, and that this could be it. When I got ill early in the season I ignored it somewhat and pushed on with training. It was a mistake."Boardman caught influenza in February, and spent weeks trying to shake off its effects "It hit hard and for a lot longer than I wanted It left me down for weeks.

Now my body seems to have clicked, and I have races coming up that I can get my teeth into."A change in training philosophy was introduced by Denis Roux, the trainer of Boardman's GAN team, after Boardman admitted to overtraining They cut out hard riding stints of two to three hours. "It seems those were damaging to me," Boardman said.Before the inevitable pressure of the Tour de France in July, Boardman faces an important date at home. Britain's new race, the nine-day Prutour, opens on 23 May in Stirling, and he will be backed by the Australians Stuart O'Grady and Henk Vogels, Sweden's Magnus Backstedt, Germany's Jens Voigt, and Italy's Eros Poli."It is my only race in Britain and I would dearly like to make the most of it. It doesn't fall at an ideal time, and it is impossible to peak for that and the Tour."Tough choices have to be made but hopefully I will get there with some good form. The course doesn't suit me but maybe I can win the leader's jersey in the opening time trial, and then one of our team can take it over."The only major difference to our Tour de France plans from previous years is that a high placing in the overall positions is not an initial objective That takes the pressure off me a little. I will just go for the opening time trial, a stage win, and take it day by day in the mountains."He will contest the World 4,000m Pursuit Championship, the discipline that made his reputation, "simply because it is convenient to fit in this year.