Imperial Cavalier withdrawn from Badminton Horse Trials
Mary King plans to take Apache Sauce to Badminton (7-10 May) but has withdrawn Imperial Cavalier, after seven horses on her yard came down with a viral infection.
Mary and Imperial had to pull out of the Rolex Kentucky four-star this week when he became ill and she says he will not return to work for a couple more weeks.
“We’ve had the virus on the yard for about a month now and all the horses have had it apart from my daughter Emily’s horse King Joules,” said Mary.
“Imperial still has a low red blood cell count and is a bit lethargic,” she added.
She said she hoped Imperial Cavalier would be recovered in time for Tattersalls (28-31 May) or Luhmuhlen (11-14 June) but would take Apache Sauce to Badminton as long as he remains well.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.