William Fox-Pitt put in a superlative performance at last weekend's Les Etoiles des Pau CCI four-star event in France, finishing first and third on the eight-year-olds Oslo and Lionheart. However, fellow British rider Mary King finished the event in fourth place, which was enough to claim the $150,000 HSBC FEI Classics series. 

Mary clinches the title

The HSBC FEI Classics is the biggest single prize in eventing, and Mary clinched the title with a magnificent clear show jumping round on Imperial Cavalier, elevating her six places to fourth.

King has been placed no lower than eighth at all five of the HSBC FEI Classics events this year, which is a remarkable achievement. She is the first woman to win the title since the series started in 2008, keeping it in British hands for the fourth consecutive year.

“It’s great to win a major prize like this,” said King, who intends to spend the money on a new lorry. “We riders all work hard and do not always win a lot of prize money, so something like this makes you feel recognised as a sportsman when a multi-national company such as HSBC backs our sport."

Jumping proves tough at Pau

The show jumping phase at Pau proved highly influential, with a high number of horses hit the first fence. Fox-Pitt, on Oslo, and King were the only riders to finish the competition on their dressage scores. There were only five penalty-free rounds from the 50 to complete the competition.

Fox-Pitt left the overnight leader Christopher Burton (AUS) on Holstein Park Leilani no room for error, and three fences down dropped the pair to eighth place. Burton’s compatriot, Wendy Schaeffer, suffered a far worse fate, however, and was eliminated when unseated from Koyuna Sun Dancer.

“When I had such a bad round on Macchiato [20 faults] and hit the first fence on Lionheart, I became very nervous,” admitted Fox-Pitt. “My round on Oslo is my first clear Jumping round at Pau. It’s been a terrific week and I’m lucky to have a horse like him.”

The rankings 

Andrew Nicholson (NZL), second at Pau on Mr Cruise Control, and Clayton Fredericks (AUS), sixth on Bendigo, both rocketed into the top five of the HSBC FEI Classics and will take home 50,000 USD and 25,000 USD respectively.

Piggy French (GBR), who was not competing at Pau, slipped a place to fourth, and both Mark Todd (NZL) and Andreas Dibowski (NZL), winners of Badminton and Luhmühlen, were pushed out of the top five cash prizes in the final moments of the season.

Andrew Nicholson said he had come to Pau with no expectations, so was delighted to have the bonus of HSBC FEI Classics money. “Mr Cruise Control is probably my third choice for the Olympics,” he said. “He is a big horse, but he gets better every year.”