Equestrian results

The Yorkshireman guided Portofino 63 to victory in Sunday's third stage in Las Vegas to finish second overall to Germany's Meredith Michaels Beerbaum.

Whitaker had gone into the decider fifth in the standings but produced the only double clear to close the gap on Beerbaum, who had led from stage two.

GB's Richard Davenport and Nick Skelton finished 19th and 22nd respectively.

Skelton, who had headed Western Europe's qualifying rankings going into Vegas, had a night to forget when his horse - the talented Arko III - ran out at the second element of a tricky double.

Skelton slipped off the stallion's shoulder and the pair were eliminated from the leg.

To have all three competing right through to the last 22 is brilliant - only Germany did better as a country Derek Ricketts

Meanwhile, Davenport and Laguina incurred 13 penalties in Sunday's showdown but they were able to improve their overall position by one place as the huge course posed a challenge for the entire field.

Derek Ricketts, the British chef d'equipe, was greatly encouraged by the trio's performance ahead of July's European Championships, though he admitted Skelton's demise late on was a let down.

"Michael jumped brilliantly and consistently all the way through. Richard jumped well too, so it's very promising," Ricketts said.

"Nick did a cracking clear in the first round and Arko was jumping fantastically, so that was very disappointing.

"But to have all three competing right through to the last 22 is brilliant - only Germany did better as a country."

Whitaker, 45 and part of Britain's silver medal-winning show jumping team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, added: "I'm very pleased with second place.

"Obviously, I'd have been ecstatic to win but she (Portofino) couldn't have gone better in the last competition."

World Cup final standings (Sun):

1. Meredith Michaels Beerbaum (Ger) 4 penalties
2. Michael Whitaker (GB) 7
=3. Marcus Ehning (Ger) 9
=3. Lars Nieberg (Ger) 9
5. Kimberly Frey (US) 10
6. Steve Guerdat (Swi) 11
7. Rodrigo Pessoa (Bra) 12
8. Marco Kutscher (Ger) 15

Selected others: