Here in the UK the sport of horse racing is often referred to as the “sport of kings”. However, after Zara Phillips stunning victory in the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, perhaps equestrian events should be called the “sport of princesses.”

That’s because the new three-day event world champion, Zara Phillips, is Queen Elizabeth’s niece and 11th in line to the throne.

With her horse, Toytown, she won the three-day event competition in Germany, adding the world title to the European crown she won last year.

The three-day event tests competitors’ horsemanship in three different disciplines: dressage, in which the rider must manoeuvre the horse through a sequence of movements in an enclosed arena; cross-country which is a timed race over obstacles such as fences, ponds and ditches; and finally show-jumping which tests the technical jumping skills of horse and rider.

Zara is following in the footsteps of her mother, Princess Anne, and father, Captain Mark Phillips, both of whom represented Great Britain in equestrian events. However, neither of her parents managed to achieve world champion status.

Naturally, she was delighted to win the title, telling the BBC, “It’s incredible; it’s beyond my wildest dreams.” However, the joy of victory was tempered with sadness as she dedicated her triumph to her friend Sherelle Duke, another equestrian rider who was killed when her horse fell, crushing her while competing a week before the World Championships.

Zara has now set her sights firmly on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, especially since an injury to her horse prevented her from qualifying for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

She told us, “Obviously winning the Olympics has been a massive dream but you have to get everything right leading up to it, and have the horse power, so it's still a long way away."

horse racing 賽馬	Equestrian 騎手
three-day event 三日賽程	in line to the throne 皇位繼承人
European crown 歐洲桂冠	horsemanship 馬術
dressage 馴馬技術, 馬在表演時的一種優美而復雜的步法	enclosed arena 封閉的競賽場地
cross country 越野	obstacles 障礙物
ponds 池塘	ditches 壕溝
show-jumping 騎馬越障表演	following in the footsteps 追隨
beyond my wildest dreams 連做夢都沒有想到的	tempered 調節, 使緩和
dedicated her triumph (將她的勝利)獻給 . . . set her sights 她的目標, 打算	crushing 擠壓, 壓傷 injury 傷病