Lausanne (SUI), 8 December 2011 – Mary King (GBR), who recently claimed 150,000 USD after becoming this year’s HSBC FEI Classics champion, is celebrating yet again after clinching a 50,000 USD bonus as the HSBC Rankings leader at the end of the 2011 season.
King, who celebrated her 50th birthday in June of this year, will be presented with her prize at the British Equestrian Writers’ Association annual awards lunch on 15 December at the London International Horse Show in Olympia (GBR).
This is the first time King has finished the season at the top of the rankings since being declared world number one at the end of 1991. First and second place finishes in the HSBC FEI Classics in Kentucky (USA), third at both Badminton and Burghley (GBR), fourth at Pau (FRA) and eighth at Luhmühlen (GER) gave King a season-end tally of 601 points. This put her at the top of the HSBC Rankings with a 15-point lead over William Fox-Pitt (GBR), who finished the season in second place, 73 points ahead of Andrew Nicholson (NZL).