OLYMPIC rider Kitty King has been forced to scratch her Rio horse Ceylor LAN from next week’s Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials, where she would have been one of the favourites.

Zara Tindall is another top local rider who will be absent after withdrawing her top horse High Kingdom.

Lower Stanton St Quintin eventer King revealed on her Facebook page that Ceylor LAN is injured and out of the four-star event.

King, who was part of the GB eventing team which finished fifth at the Rio Olympics, wrote: “Devastated to be writing this post but I have made the tough decision to withdraw Ceylor LAN from Badminton Horse Trials.

“He has been on fantastic form this spring and has felt better than ever. I felt we had every chance to have a really competitive run.

“Unfortunately he has knocked himself in training and Sprout’s owners and I don't feel we should be risking him and his bright future when he is only 10 years old.

“I'm extremely disappointed for his wonderful owners who have been so supportive and my home team who have put so much work into our Badminton build-up.”

Two other top candidates, Andrew Nicholson and Oliver Townend revealed that their rides were in top order at the Badminton Preview evening held in front of a packed house at the Kings Head Hotel in Cirencester on Wednesday.

Nicholson, who rides both the experienced Nereo and Qwanza, nominated himself, Townend and hot favourite and reigning champion Michael Jung from Germany as potential winners, when pressed by MC-for-the-evening Jonty Evans.

Nicholson joked that his two entries were “winning everything at home” and added that his veteran hope Nereo “is as good on the gallops as he was 10 years ago.”

Townend, the top-ranked British eventer in the last three years, was more circumspect given that his rides – he has yet to choose which two of his three entries (MHS King Joules, Samuel Thomas II and ODT Ghareeb) to partner _are all Badminton newcomers.

Nicholson holds the record for completions at Badminton (36) but has yet to win the elusive prize.

Ros Morgan, who coaches five of the riders at Badminton, along with Horse Trials director Hugh Thomas and course designer Eric Winter, made up the star-studded panel in Cirencester at an entertaining evening in aid of the Riding for the Disabled Watershed branch in Coates.