King and the 8-year-old Belgian Sport Horse, owned by Patricia Vasey, were one of seven entries to qualify to jump off over the Sunday morning track designed by Kenny Krome. When the pair returned to the Grand Prix Stadium as the last to jump, the time to beat had been set at 34.980 seconds by Amanda Gomez and Charly-Ann, but King shaved off just enough to clinch the win in 34.453 seconds.

Gomez and Charly-Ann, owned by Rising Star Equestrian, took home second place, and winners earlier in the week Jessica Gleason and her own Mack Wildrick finished in third on 35.029 seconds.

“It was a really nice course,” said King. “Interestingly enough, usually after the Saturday night classes, they keep the jumps in the same place for these classes in the morning. This morning, it was a little bit of different pattern, and I thought it rode a little bit more technical than even last night. There were some good horses out there. It’s nice to get going at the beginning of the season and get a victory under our belts.”

King has been partnered with Mermoz DB for the past two seasons, and in that time, the young gray gelding has been carefully making his way up the ranks.

“[Patricia Vasey] bought this horse for herself; she spotted him here at Thermal doing the 5-year-olds,” said King. “He can be pretty quick and spooky; so, I eventually kind of took the ride over. He’s been stepping up. He went to Spruce Meadows this summer and got really good miles. I took him back East on a tour, and he actually did a CSI2* as a 7-year-old. He’s a very good little horse. He’s very competitive – very careful, fast. He’s fun to have in the string for sure. He’s a barn favorite.”