Jill Browning, from St Peter Port, Guernsey, bought her 17.2hh gelding for Dressage and qualified for the British Dressage Regional Finals on their first outing. Now, with a substitute rider after Jill was injured, Adaccio has achieved another first.

The horse, a half brother to double European Eventing Champion Pippa Funnell 's Supreme Rock, gave rider Karen Wellings her first taste of Working Hunter classes - and took one of the places in the South Essex Insurance Brokers Search for a Star final at this year's Horse of the Year Show.

They qualified at Merrist Wood College, near Guildford, the second in five of this year's selection days in the well established competition designed to give amateur owners and riders their chance to compete at the national show, which will be held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham.

Candice Herman's successful coloured horse, Blues Missile, also earned a place in his new career as a Hack. "He is out of my old hunter mare by a son of Cruise Missile," said Miss Herman, who has always shown the 10 years-old in coloured classes. "He is now grey and white because he got paler as he got older," she said. "This year I started showing him as a hack. It is something I always wanted to do but felt unable to whilst his colouring was rather obvious!"

Fourteen-year-olds Lucy Day and Arabella Digby both earned places to Birmingham in the Ponies section, while Sutton hairdresser Karen Thomson and her six-years-old Just Ben took one of the two available show hunter places.

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