JORDAN Coyle had the perfect start to his week ahead of making his Aga Khan Cup debut, when winning three international classes on the opening two days of the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show.

Coyle won Thursday’s Speed Derby with King Kannan GP, a second five-star success together in the space of 24 hours and his own third triumph in the opening two days of international action.

Though based in America for a number of years, Coyle relishes returning home and has a happy knack of making it pay. Few visits will be as memorable as the current one, however, as he fulfils a lifetime dream following his selection for the Nations Cup of Ireland. He was set to make his debut alongside his younger brother Daniel on Friday afternoon and, ahead of the event, he said: “Coming back to Dublin is a big deal. It’s a dream. I’ve been lucky enough to come for the past six or seven years and it’s definitely one of the highlights of the year.

“But then to be on the Aga Khan this year. Sure that’s the dream of every Irish rider. And then, to be on the team with your brother? In 100 years that hasn’t happened. There won’t be anyone left in Ardmore. They’ll be coming by the busload... Our parents go to most of the shows. They’re great supporters. They’ve been the ones that drove us everywhere and got us going. They deserve it as much as we do.

“There’s only one thing we have in mind and that’s to win it. And we’re in good form. And the horse feels great. He’s been an amazing horse for me and he feels ready for something like this.”

Speaking about his win aboard King Kannan GP, he said: “I was amazed that he came out today so good. Yesterday was the first time he had been asked to jump 1.55m and he dealt with it very well.

“In the Derby, 14 jumps, it’s quite long but he has the heart of a lion. Absolute heart of a lion. In the past few months he has really developed. Every single day you can depend on him now. It ended up quite fast, but he’s generally very fast. He has the speed for the jumps, especially at that height, so he’d normally end up being faster than most anyway.”

Vogel can’t hold on

German winning machine Richard Vogel set the early tempo with his eight-year-old gelding Chember 3 and they maintained the advantage for quite a while, but their clear in 84.03 was unable to resist the efforts of the Irish duo.

Anthony Bourquard (SUI) secured his second podium of the week with Flanagan Semilly in third.

Billy Twomey and Corrindubh Brother In Arms (John Chadwick), the Irish Sport Horse bred in Corballa, Co Sligo by Noel Ruane were fourth, the Cork rider ruing the additional four penalty seconds that came with a jumping error in a Table C class, leaving them with a cumulative time of 87.08.

Karl Cook brought an end to the green wash by winning Thursday evening’s Cashel Palace Hotel Stakes. Riding Foxy De La Roque, the American came out on top of an 11-strong jump-off to prevail with a decisive time of 37.11. Kevin Staut (FRA) took second with Ever De Turan, while Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) was third with Major Tom.