Peter Charles, who leads the Irish team at this week's British Nations Cup meeting at Hickstead, had the best possible tune-up when winning the u17,500 (sterling) £17,500 sterling Grand Prix at the new Essex international in Great Leighs yesterday.

Riding the 11-year-old Russian-bred Traxdata Mulligan, Charles had the best of a 10-horse jump-off to score by almost 10 seconds from Traxdata teammate Tim Stockdale with the mare Wiston Bridget.

Although the Great Leighs win netted Charles u £6,000, he narrowly missed out on a u £65,000 bonus. The organisers were offering an Oakley Supreme horsebox to the combination that scored in both Friday's feature class and yesterday's Grand Prix.

Charles and Mulligan had finished second in the opener, but their win yesterday at least thwarted the hopes of Andrew Davies and Captain Wellington, who had triumphed on Friday at Charles' expense.