Equestrian - De Miranda pips wife to win in Wellington

Alvaro de Miranda edged out his wife Athina Onassis de Miranda to score victory in the final Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival of Wellington.

The Brazilian and his French partner, both trained by former US national coach George Morris, joined eight other riders in qualifying for the jump-off as the event in Florida drew to a close.

Athina, who suffered a serious fall in November put caution before speed and with Camille Z registered a double clear round, albeit with a slow time.

Alvaro, on the other hand, approached his task in a more headstrong manner, leading Ad Rahmannshof’s Bogeno around in just 43.96 seconds - 10 second faster than his wife.

Britain's Ben Maher split the pair with the double clear, just a few hundreths of a second slower than Alvaro's winning effort of 44.88 seconds.