SPRUCE Meadows clearly brings out the best in Irish riders, with a phenomenal run of success continuing over the weekend at the five-star Canadian fixture.
Following several days of Irish domination, Derry’s Daniel Coyle won Sunday’s 1.50m jump-off class with 15-year-old gelding Farrel in a fitting conclusion to the show. From a start list of 24, only five jumped clear in round one to proceed to the jump-off, with Coyle and his mount the only pair to complete a double clear round. Offaly’s Darragh Kenny and Zero K placed fifth, with Daniel’s brother Jordan Coyle on Jorisca in 10th.
Daniel Coyle commented afterwards on his experiences at Spruce Meadows: “I’ve ridden every single ride and every single ring on every stage of a horse from five to 15-16 (years), whatever. And it has really, really improved me as a rider. The time allowed (is) different here, the speeds (are) different here. The jumps are different here (at Spruce Meadows). So you got to adapt to that.
“And when I look back at the first year I was here, lots of mistakes were made and probably ones that stuck with me forever. And I’ve learned a lot here. And I ain’t finished.”
Success
Five-star competition at Spruce Meadows continued from Wednesday, June 11th until Sunday, June 15th, with Irish riders once again in the ribbons. The opening international 1.45m class saw Jordan Coyle place third on the 10-year-old gelding King Kannan GP from a starting line-up of 55. Meanwhile, Andrew Bourns placed sixth in another 1.45m class riding MCS Leisester.
Thursday started off well for the Irish, with a one-two in the 1.50m jump-off class for Down’s Conor Swail on the nine-year-old mare Clonterm Obolensky (ISH) (Cornet Obolensky (BEW) x She Has The Lux (ISH) by Lux Z (HANN), bred by Brian Duff) and Kenny on Mendoza VDL respectively. Coyle followed in fourth with Jorsica and Swail also claimed sixth place with One Edition.
Not satisfied with the top two places, the Irish then filled all three places on the podium in the 1.55m jump-off class, with Kenny taking the win with Eddy Blue, followed by David O’Brien on El Balou OLD in second and Swail on My Lady Lavista in third.
Daniel Coyle took a podium place in Friday’s 1.45m jump-off class, placing third with the nine-year-old mare Daydream from a class of 57.
It was almost another all-Irish podium in Friday’s 1.50m Atco Cup jump-off class, when Swail and One Edition finished best of the 19 starters, jumping clear in a jump-off time of 34.38. Swail also placed third on board Clonterm Obolensky (ISH) when they stopped the clock in 34.76 – a time also clocked by Kenny on Zero K, with the two Irish men sharing the place on the podium. The Irish dominance was only interrupted by Mexico’s Eugenio Garza Perez on Chalouries PS, who was the runner-up in 34.69.
Irish domination
The Irish domination continued in the 1.50m RBC Capital Markets Cup jump-off class, with another all-Irish podium. This time, Jordan Coyle took the win riding For Gold, followed by Swail on My Lady Lavista in second and Kenny on Diaroubet in third.
Arielle Allen placed ninth with Kandice Z in the day’s 1.30m jump-off class.
In Saturday’s 31-strong 1.60m Rolex Grand Prix, there were four Irish in the top 10, namely O’Brien on El Balou OLD, who were best of the Irish in fourth, Jordan Coyle on Chaccolino in sixth, Kenny on Eddy Blue in seventh and Swail on Casturano in 10th. The win went to Czech rider Vaclav Stanek on Quintin, who rode the fastest double clear in 42.72.
Meanwhile, in the 1.50m Apex Cup speed class, it was another win for Jordan Coyle on For Gold, with Kenny on Mendoza VDL in sixth and Swail on One Edition in seventh. O’Brien was back on the podium in the day’s 1.30m jump-off class when third with Birkegaardens Malibu DWB.
Sunday’s two-star 1.45m Grand Prix saw a fourth-place finish for Swail on Qoreen Van’T Ruytershof and a sixth for Daniel Coyle on Daydream. O’Brien took another podium place for the Irish in the 1.40m jump-off class with Birkegaardens Malibu DWB from a start list of 39.