Mary_King_on_Imperial_Cavalier_Badminton_April_25_2011May 1 - Britain's Mary King ended her 11-year wait for a major four-star title by winning the Rolex Kentucky competition in Lexington and putting herself firmly in line for a place in Britain's team for next year's Olympics.


The 49-year-old from Devon followed up a third-placed finish with Imperial Cavalier at Badminton six days ago by dominating America's annual eventing classic by finishing first and second.

King, a member of the British teams that won Olympic silver medals at Athens in 2004 and bronze in 2008, held a commanding overnight position, going into the showjumping finale in first and second places with Kings Temptress and Fernhill Urco, respectively.

And when she jumped clear on Portuguese-bred Fernhill, it guaranteed the mother of two rider would win her first four-star event since Badminton with Star Appeal in 2000.

But King then went one better, producing a clear round on Kings Temptress to take the crown with a score of 47.7 penalties, two ahead of Fernhill.

It guaranteed King membership of an exclusive club by finishing first and second in a four-star event, and brought her a windfall of £80,000 ($131,000) in prize money.

And her performance also gave her a commanding lead in the HSBC FEI Classics Series, which offers a £90,000 ($147,000) top prize for the overall top finisher over world eventing's leading five events - Badminton, Kentucky, Luhmuhlen, Burghley and Pau.

"I never dreamt I would be in this position when I left England," said King.

"They are two very different horses.

"Kings Temptress is very experienced at this level and was fluent all the way round on cross-country.

"Fernhill Urco has no experience at this level, and he was a bit green at the first water jump, but he improved the further he went.

"To be lying first and second after cross-country, I had never been in that position before, especially not at this level on two very different horses.

"I am going to celebrate tonight."

British riders served notice of the considerable strength in depth available to Britain team chief Yogi Breisner, as William Fox-Pitt and Oliver Townend produced solid displays on debut four-star horses.

Fox-Pitt was fourth on Neuf des Coeurs, while Townend took sixth aboard ODT Sonas Rovatio after both combinations jumped clear.