A WARRINGTON show jumper has done his Olympic Games prospects another power of good by winning the Grand Prix of the inaugural Belfast Indoor International Horse Show.

Andrew Davies, who is among 12 British riders short-listed for the Athens 2004 Games, defeated fellow Briton Nick Skelton into second place in the top drawer competition that attracted 33 competitors from all over the world.

His success came on 10-year-old Dutch-bred gelding Limbo V - Davies' specified Olympics horse - and they have until August 2004 to prove to GB manager Derek Rickets that they are the pair for the Greece job.

On Limbo V, 29-year-old Rixton-based Davies also finished eighth in the Belfast International Jumping Stakes but scored another first on Hilton III in The Balloo Six Bar competition and came second in the knockout. In other events he was fourth and 14th on Gamble, seventh on Pandur and 18th on Hilton III.

Davies intends to further stake his claim for Olympics selection at the Olympia International Show Jumping Championships in London, which begins on December 18.

Only one British show jumper is certain of competing in the Athens Olympics. The quality and form of each show jumper's specified Olympic horse will play a major part in Rickets' assessment.

Davies and Limbo V won this year's Grand Prix at the Chester International Horse Show, came third in the King George at Hickstead and the Spruce Meadows Grand Prix in Calgary, Canada.

Davies' career has been boosted by moving from south Wales to live with his girlfriend, 21-year-old Vicky Hesford, on a farm in Rixton.

The move in November 2002 has given Davies greater access to his required training facilities and a better geographical base to compete throughout the United Kingdom.

Other highlights of Davies' career to date include winning an individual silver medal at the European Junior Championships in 1992 with Gothenburg.