THE Irish Sport Horse Roulette BH took top place on the podium in the three-star 1.50m $134,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, under Britain’s Amanda Derbyshire.

There were 45 entries in Saturday night’s Grand Prix, all competing over a course designed by Michel Vaillancourt of Canada. Of those entries, four found the path to a clear round and the jump-off and in a fitting finish during Women’s History Month, four ladies were competing for the top spot.

Co Clare’s David Blake, who is due to marry the winner, finished in fifth place with Keoki when completing the first round with a single time fault. Aidan Killeen was also beaten by the clock in the first round when he guided Fair Play to a clear jumping round by picked up a time fault to slot into sixth place.

Derbyshire started riding Roulette BH, a 10-year-old gelding by Moschino x Michellino, in May of 2018 and had to work with the “very, very strong” horse that had previously been ridden by a man.

“We took it pretty slow last summer, and we didn’t face him at all the big stuff. I think by doing that we’ve trusted each other. He’s jumped I think three Grand Prix here, and he’s been clear every time. I had a time fault once. We haven’t tried to over show him. We’ve got big plans for the future.”

Those big plans include the Nations Cups at Dublin and Hickstead, plus another big championship that is just around the corner. “The big aim is 2020 for him for sure,” Derbyshire said of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

COYLE WIN

Derry’s Daniel Coyle won the $36,000 Douglas Elliman 1.45m on Wednesday with Ariel Grange’s 11-year-old mare Tienna. He stopped the timers at 27.98 seconds to bump Brazil’s Eduardo Menezes to second aboard H5 Uchingo.

Co Down’s Conor Swail took third riding Captain for owner B Gingras Equestrian Ltd in 28.71 seconds, while Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca ended in fourth in a time of 28.81 seconds, ahead of Offaly’s Darragh Kenny and Billy Dorito in fifth place.

“For me, Tienna has always been special; she’s probably the most talented horse I have ever ridden,” said Coyle. “It usually takes me the whole WEF circuit to get her built up, which may be frustrating to some people but in the end she could win the biggest class in the world so taking the first eight weeks of the year to get her on my side is worth it.”

Of his 2019 season at WEF, Coyle said: “This year I’ve had a lot of younger horses move up to the international level, so it’s been a building circuit for me, but I’ve still had some good results. For Tienna, I don’t have any specific plans, but she’s a typical chesnut mare; she’ll tell me where she wants to go and I’ll follow.”