THE Coyle family from Derry must have had a fantastic weekend of celebrations, as just a day after Jordan won a three-star 1.50m class in Florida, his brother, Daniel, took an incredible and well-deserved win on this side of the Atlantic in Sunday’s five-star Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Grand Prix at Leipzig in Germany, the 11th leg of the 2023/2024 Western European League series.
Daniel and the 14-year-old mare Legacy were one of 13 combinations out of 40 starters to get through to the jump-off, where they pulled out all the stops, jumping a truly sensational clear round in an unbeatable time of 31.70 seconds. They threw caution to the wind and rode some unbelievable lines in the process, turning so tightly that they were almost jumping the wings! The large crowd in attendance was in awe - it was amazing to watch the pair in action and they definitely deserved to take the winner’s prize of €47,500.
Runner-up spot went to last to jump, Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Commissar Pezi, with a time of 32.13, while another Swiss rider Steve Guerdat rode Double Jeu d’Honvault into third place. Frenchmen Kevin Staut (Beau de Laubry Z) finished fourth; with Edward Levy (Eify du Pic) in fifth, ahead of Sweden’s Rolf-Goran Bengtsson (Zuccero HV) in sixth.
Delighted
This was the second five-star Grand Prix that 30-year-old Coyle and Legacy have won in the last month, as they also took the top spot in December’s London International Grand Prix – although they had just missed out on the World Cup win in London, after riding another amazing jump-off round.
A delighted Coyle said afterwards: “Legacy is like no other horse I’ve ever ridden. Once you ask her to do something, if it’s actually possible, she will do it!”
Coyle is currently ranked 14th in the world and has been competing on the North America circuit, but is riding in Europe this winter as a ‘training exercise’. When in Europe, he stays with his coach, Dutch Olympic gold medallist Jeroen Dubbeldam.
“Ariel (Grange) bought the mare when she was just turned eight, and Jeroen had her before, so he could tell me immediately what she liked and what she didn’t like and what was the best way to go forward with her. She took me to my first championships and I owe so much to her in every way,” Daniel said.
Coyle feels privileged to partner Legacy, but says that she is “not as simple as some people seem to think she is!”
“I’m delighted for Jeroen Dubbeldam who found her, delighted that Ariel bought her for me, I’m over the moon – if I wasn’t good enough to steer her, then it would be such a shame because she is so good!” Coyle commented.
Jump-off
Course designer Frank Rothenberger had set a challenging first round track of 13 fences, with seven maximum-height verticals. Fence two proved to be the bogey and it was jumped in the opposite direction to get the second round underway.
There were multiple champions amongst the 13 who got through to the jump-off; 2014 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup winner, Germany’s Daniel Deusser was first to go.
Unfortunately for him, his new ride, Gangster v/h Noddevelt, ran out at the water-tray oxer. Ireland’s Michael Duffy and Cantano 32 incurred four faults at the next fence, but then Britain’s Robert Whitaker jumped a steady clear in 41.76 seconds.
Frenchman Staut and Beau de Laubry Z rode a much faster clear round to take the lead in 34.25 seconds, but Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, reigning European champion, and Double Jeu d’Honvault, went half a second faster than that to go out in front. Coyle and Legacy then came in and showed how it should be done, galloping round the course to take the lead with their super time of 31.70 seconds.
Germany’s Christian Ahlmann (Mandato van de Neerheide) and Kendra Claricia Brinkop (In Time) followed, but each collected four faults. Hans Dieter Dreher and Vestmalle des Cotis managed a faster time than Coyle (31.45 seconds), but finished on four faults, while France’s Edward Levy (Eufy du Pic) and Sweden’s Rolf Goran Bengtsson (Zuccero) each rode safe clear rounds.
The 2017 European champion and Tokyo Olympic team gold medallist, Sweden’s Peder Fredricson, was out to win with SV Vroom de la Pomme; they were very fast but they knocked the last fence to finish on four faults in the fastest time of 31.29 seconds.
Last in was 2022 World Cup champion, Martin Fuchs, with Commissar Pezi. They jumped clear, but not as fast as Coyle and Legacy, stopping the clock in 32.13 seconds to place second.
At the press conference afterwards, Fuchs said he didn’t see Coyle’s jump-off: “But I watched Steve and when Daniel was two seconds faster than Steve, then I knew that would be very hard to beat! So, I just tried to go as fast as possible and I’d like to study the whole jump-off again now and see what I could have done better. From my feeling, I had a really good jump-off, but Daniel was just way better today!”
Fuchs plans to bring Commissar Pezi to Riyadh for the Final in three months’ time.
Guerdat, who has been FEI Jumping World Cup champion three times, said of 11-year-old gelding Double Jeu, which he has had since the horse was eight: “He has a lot of talent and is very careful and powerful, but when he goes in the ring, he gets very shy. He’s always been very good, but when you step up to five-star level and into a more difficult situation, he can sometimes have a fence down and be even more careful, and he can’t breathe in the ring, so he is difficult to ride. So, I always say that the day it all comes together, he will be a great horse and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.”
Guerdat won’t be taking his top horses, Venard de Cerisy or Dynamix de Belheme to Riyadh: “they are waiting for the outside season and working towards the Olympic Games”, he explained. “I will do a few more shows with my other horses, and from today maybe Double Jeu is the one who will go. We will see, but I’m very happy to be qualified. I missed the Final last year for the first time in many years, so I’m happy to be back!” This will be Guerdat’s 15th Final.
Irish riders have been doing well so far in the 2023/2024 FEI World Cup Grand Prix series on both sides of the Atlantic. Cork’s Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz (ISH), bred in Co Galway by Patrick Connolly, took victory in Lexington (USA) in November. Co Down’s Conor Swail and Count Me In won in Las Vegas also in November, while in Europe, Sligo’s Richard Howley landed a double of wins in Oslo (NOR) and Helsinki (FIN) with the 12-year-old gelding Consulent de Prelet Z back in October.
Daniel Coyle and Legacy, winners of the Leipzig leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup \ FEI/Leanjo de Koster
Coyle has now qualified for the 2023/2024 FEI World Cup Finals, with a prize fund of €1.3 million, which will take place in Riyadh (KSA) this April.
He said: “Adding points was always a big factor in staying here in Europe to do the qualifiers. I won the North American League last year, but I hadn’t really done that many qualifiers this year, so it is great to add to the points I had - that was the plan and it’s going well!”
With just three legs of the Western European League now left to run, the next port of call is Amsterdam (NED) this weekend (Sunday, January 28th).
Irish on form
Competition had kicked off at Leipzig last Thursday, with Niamh McEvoy placing seventh with SHS Soco Blue in the opening five-star class. Galway’s Michael Duffy also placed seventh in the Young Horse (seven-year-old) one-star class with Manoulito, while Nano Healy rode Le Roi into fourth place in the eight-year-old class.
On Saturday, Denis Lynch and Cordial were sixth in the five-star Championat of Leipzig class.
Michael Duffy and O’Balou Van De Plataan won the five-star Six Bar class, jumping clear through four jump-offs, the last of which was set a staggering 2.05m! He was just ahead of Swiss rider Martin Fuchs on Commissar Pezi, who faulted in the fourth round. Nano Healy rode Nikolette 3 into third place.
Duffy was clearly on form and placed fourth with Manoulito in the day’s seven-year-old class, while Denis Lynch and Lithium VS placed seventh in the eight-year-old class.
Duffy and Manoulito took sixth place in Sunday’s seven-year-old class and this was emulated by Nano Healy and Le Roi, who were sixth in the day’s eight-year-old class to conclude a successful show for Ireland.