Brian Hennessy

DANIEL Coyle made the long trip from his home county of Derry to Cork city extremely worthwhile, when he scored his second TRM/Horseware Premier Series win in a row at Cork Summer Show in Curraheen Park.

Coyle had snatched the winner’s prize north of the border at Omagh just a week before with John Carr’s stallion Zuidam and they blew away the opposition again in Cork, finishing with a comfortable winning margin of just over two seconds.

Coyle spoke to The Irish Field afterwards saying: “I was delighted to win last week and to win again today is brilliant. There were a lot of good horses here today and quite a few clears for a premier grand prix. He [Zuidam] is naturally a very fast horse anyway, so the plan is always to go quick with him and hope it is fast enough. He wasn’t so good at his turns starting off but he has learned as he got older.”

Dutch course builder Klaus Holle had 33 horses and riders to take on his first round course which didn’t cause too many problems, with the exception of the oxer at fence 10 on the way home which did fall on a few occasions.

In the end, a healthy 14 combinations made it through to the jump-off where Meath’s Alexander Butler really set the competition alight from the start, producing an excellent clear round in 41.61 seconds with Hallowberry Cruz.

French-born rider Valentim Besnard, riding for the Dubai based Team Z7, was next to go clear with the Catoki-sired Z7 Cordanos V. Their time of 45.87 would see them finish seventh overall.

Francis Connors handed a Premier Series debut to the eight-year-old Erne Ladygoldilocks.

The daughter of VDL Douglas looked quite comfortable at this level as Connors took his time to deliver a comfortable double clear and take eighth place overall.

An in-form Vincent Byrne was next to go with his new ride Caugherty. They briefly moved into second place with a clear round and a time of 42.33 would see them take fourth spot at the finish.

Alexander Butler then entered the arena with his second ride, the speed specialist Vimminka, but they lowered the vertical at fence seven to end their chances. Captain Geoff Curran and Mullaghbane also finished on four faults when fence five fell to the floor.

Daniel Coyle was next to take up the challenge with the 11-year-old Guidam-sired Zuidam and from the off, they looked to be much faster than any of their predecessors. They came home well over three seconds faster than the target to move into a commanding lead of 37.98.

Edward Doyle and Mullaghdrin Touch The Stars also went clear and their a slower time of 44.20 would prove good enough for fifth, just ahead of Neal Fearon who would finish sixth after another clear round with the eye-catching grey mare Cessina (by Converter).

John McLaughlin then took up the challenge and was full of confidence after some recent impressive performances at Jumping In The City with Mary McLaughlin’s Javas Wild Child. A brilliant effort saw the Co Derry rider come home clear in 40.34 seconds to move into second place overall.

Frank Curran and New World were next into the ring, but they lowered the vertical at fence seven to end their hopes, while Liam O’Meara also saw his chance of victory fade when Mr Coolcaum also returned with one fence down.

Last to jump was Darryl Walker with Cushions, this pair having won the National Grand Prix at the same venue on the previous day. However four rounds of jumping in 24 hours seemed to take its toll as they returned with two fences down.

This left a delighted Daniel Coyle and Zuidam as winners of the €10,000 competition, with John McLaughlin and Javas Wild Child as runner-up.

Speaking afterwards, Coyle was reluctant to comment on his chance of winning the Premier Series, saying: “I don’t really want to think about the league table at the minute, I just want to focus on keep trying to win.”