MARY KING, pictured right on Apache Sauce at Burghley, has had to pull out of the GB European Championship team due to a an injury to her top horse Imperial Cavalier.

MARY KING, pictured right on Apache Sauce at Burghley, has had to pull out of the GB European Championship team due to a an injury to her top horse Imperial Cavalier.

The horse sustained a suspensory ligament injury hight up on a hind leg and a slight unlevelness in his gait was only noticed when Mary was lunging him (on a circle).

She said: "I am bitterly disappointed as he was in great form. He was absolutely sound on the straight, but just a bit unlevel on the lunge so we took him up to be scanned and it showed up as a ligament injury.

"Fortunately, it only means about four months off so he will be back for the World Games next year."

Burghley, last weekend, was 'good but not brilliant' but, Mary says, there were a lot of good things to come out of it.

Both horses produced great cross country rounds. Apache Sauce, pictured left, was always clawing back places as high winds during his dressage test meant that he only secured an average mark.

King's Temptress, at nine years old, is a youngster in four-star eventing terms and coped well with the test, but was tired on the final day.

Mary added: "She was great cross country as she made a bad mistake, recovered and carried on as if nothing had happened. But she was a bit tight in her back and definitely tired in the showjumping. Next year she will have the experience to really have a crack at this level."

Mary was also delighted with the high demand for her newly published autobiography.

This weekend Mary is competing at Blenheim on Fern Hill Urco.