MARY King geared up for this month's World Equestrian Games in style by securing two top-10 finishes with an eventing masterclass at the Burghley Horse Trials.

The Exminster 49-year-old, who claimed silver at the 2004 Athens Games and bronze four years later in Beijing, finished fifth with Apache Sauce and seventh with Kings Temptress at the prestigious four-star event, which doubles as the penultimate leg of the HSBC FEI Classics series.

King's success was only the first part of an action-packed month, which will also see her travel to the Blenheim Horse Trials next weekend before representing Great Britain at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

And, with just two years to go until the London Olympics, King insists she's looking to cement her GB spot by adding to her international medal haul in the USA.

"I'm absolutely chuffed to bits with how things have gone, both on the last day and over the entire event," said King, who has stables at Salcombe Regis.

"It's been a fantastic Burghley for me generally. It's such an honour to ride in such a wonderful event that it's been absolutely brilliant.

"I'm off to Blenheim Horse Trials next week and then Kentucky for the World Equestrian Games, so the horses fly on the 22nd and then myself and the other team members fly on the 23rd and I can't wait for it.

"I had a show jump down for both of the horses but that was really quite a good result for them, all things considered.

"I had both horses here last year too and they each had three show jumps down, so it was a big improvement on that to be honest with you.

"On the other hand, it shows that it's not their strength phase, but they picked up their feet compared to last year so I'm very happy with that."

King was lying sixth and eighth at the end of the dressage after racking up just 44.8 penalty points with Apache Sauce and 45.3 with Kings Temptress.

Both horses cleared the notorious cross-country course inside the required time and, despite only four penalties apiece in the show jump blotting the copybook, King declared herself satisfied with the weekend's work.

"There was just one error that moved us down just a couple of places, but overall I really am very happy — I'm delighted with their performance," added King.

"It's gone well. You never know with Apache Sauce because he is so inconsistent. He is definitely getting calmer though. The older he gets, the better he is at coping at these events, so that's a good thing.

"Kings Temptress was a little bit nervous at the start, definitely a little bit anxious early on, but when she settled down she did some excellent work.

"Other than a little bit of head tilting, she was really good and she is a very exciting prospect really."

The HSBC FEI Classics™ unites the top end of the international eventing circuit — namely the five four-star competitions across the world. The Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials is the penultimate event in the HSBC FEI Classics™.