British Breeder Magazine May 2020

NEWS - OBITUARIES
Kings Temptress
Dies from
complications
after foaling.
We are sad to report that Kings
Temptress, Mary King’s home-bred 2011
Kentucky winner, has died following
complications after foaling. Her foal,
King Vincent, is with a foster mare.
The 20 year old mare, known
affectionately at home as ‘Tess’, was
the product of Mary’s early breeding
programme. By Primitive Rising, she
was the most successful of 5 foals out of
Kings Mistress (x Louella Inschallah II).
After an inauspicious start, her illustrious
eventing career really started to shine
as she climbed the levels. In her third
season she won 3 Intermediates and had
double clear at Le Lion CCI2*.
The following year she was 16th at
Bramham CCI3* and 17th at Boekelo
CCI3*, and in 2009 she finished 4th at
Luhmuhlen CCI4* and 18th at Burghley
CCI4*, completing her second season
without a fault XC. She completed five
4* events (now 5*) in her career and
Burghley was a particularly good
hunting ground, where she finished
seventh in 2010 and third in 2011. But
her career highlight came at Kentucky
4* in 2011 which she won.
She retired shortly after Badminton
in 2015 where Mary withdrew after
dressage on finding that the mare was
not quite sound. They later found that
the mare had some arthritic changes. In
an interview with Horse & Hound, Mary
said: “She was the third horse I bred
out of Kings Mistress and when I started
jumping Kings Gem and Kings Fancy
they were really neat and organised
from the start. When I started jumping
Tess, she really couldn’t do it and I
thought, ‘What have I bred?’”
“But when she got to intermediate level
she started to learn to get high enough
and she went on to become really
confident. It’s amazing she did what she
did. Her two older sisters both reached
four-star, but she’s the one who won
one.”
Tess had a foal by Mednight Mahout
when she was four, who was bred with
the intention of being a suitable
teenager’s horse for Emily. Initially called
King Casper, he was later renamed
Everys King and competed with Mary
and then Emily until she went on to
bigger things, when he was sold on.
While competing, Tess has had five
embryo transfer offspring, who all stayed
with Mary — King Robert, now
competing with Mary at 4*, Kings
Ginger has reached 2*, and Kings Tilly,
who won the 5yo class at Much Marcle
last year, all by Chilli Morning; Kings
Rose by Grafenstolz and King Cyrus by
Future Gravitas. After her retirement from
competition she went on to have three
foals of her own, Kings Kizzy and Kings
Belief by Cevin Z, and this year’s foal,
King Vincent, by Van Gogh.
In a statement on her Facebook page,
Mary said, “I am absolutely devastated
to have lost her. I was so lucky to have
bred such a wonderful mare, who gave
so much to me and others through her
life to the end.”
“She has left me with a beautiful boy,
Vinnie,” continued Mary in the
statement. “He is by the stallion Van
Gogh whose Christian name was
Vincent … so King Vincent he is!” The
healthy colt has been paired up with a
foster mare in Warwickshire following a
plea on facebook. Our thoughts are with
the King family at this sad time.
Watch Mary King and Kings Temptress
complete their copybook round at
Kentucky 4* in 2011
https://youtu.be/FJaiD1OJSmQ
16 | BRITISH BREEDER