Nick Skelton's hopes of taking Arko III to the World Equestrian Games in Aachen ended at the Royal International Horse Show at Hickstead. The stallion dug in his toes at the railway gates double during the first round of the King George V Gold Cup, hurling Skelton to the ground.
Arko III displayed top early season form and two major grand prix wins.
But the 12-year-old has begun refusing fences, doing so at the last four international shows.
Frenchman Roger-Yves Bost and Ideal de la Loge outpaced Germany's Heinrich Engemann on Aboyeur to win the King George.
William Funnell and Cortaflex Mondriaan were third after the six-way jump-off with a time fault from the first round.
John Whitaker and Peppermill, heroes of the Samsung Super League Nations Cup win, had a mistake in the first round and two in the jump-off to take sixth.
American Molly Ashe and Lutopia repeated their 2004 win in the women's classic, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, from Britain's Jane Annett on Cullawn Diamond, who were runners-up for the second time.
Annett was returning to competition after badly dislocating her ankle in a fall at Hickstead's Derby meeting a month ago.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
