BRITAIN'S equestrian world is pinning its hopes on Zara Phillips, the 11th heir to the throne, adding an Olympic gold to her world and European titles in 2008.

Provided she and the brilliant Toytown can reach the first day of competition in Hong Kong, the venue for the Olympic equestrian events, without suffering injury or heat stroke, Zara will be one of the favourites to bring home the individual three-day title.

Toytown is already preparing for the most significant season of his life, cantering through the woods at Gatcombe Park and brushing up on his jumping.

An injury to the 15-year-old Toytown would signal the end of an Olympic dream, as it did four years ago in the run-up to Athens, but this time there are extra complications. Hong Kong in August, when the humidity is suffocating and temperatures reach 32C, is no place for a horse or rider to be outdoors - let alone competing in an Olympic event.

The Swiss team recently pulled out of the Olympics when its top dressage rider, Silvia Ikle, who is the world‘s No.4, said she would not risk her horse in such conditions.

“I do have concerns,” says Zara. “But Toytown is my top horse and he is not going to get to another Olympics, and I might not myself. So what do you do? It’s difficult. I’ve racked my brains about it, but I know if Toytown was a person, he’d say, ‘Don’t be silly, let’s go’. “

Zara inherits an Olympic pedigree from both parents. Her mother, the Princess Royal, represented Britain at the 1976 Games in Montreal, and her father, Mark Phillips’s two Olympic medals, a team gold and silver, came 16 years apart, in Munich and Seoul.