DERRY’s Jordan Coyle won the three-star $125,000 Old Salem Farm Grand Prix in New York, USA last Sunday.

Alan Wade designed a big 1.55m track for the 33 competitors, and nine made it through to the jump-off, where Coyle blazed through the timers in 34.99 seconds with Celtic Park LLC’s Centriko Volo to take the win.

Ireland’s Jonathan Corrigan was first to go against the clock and he produced the first double clear of the competition with Andrea Vogel’s 12-year-old gelding Fair Play, when breaking the beam in 37.98 seconds.

However, their time didn’t hold long, as Coyle immediately followed with the 12-year-old gelding Centriko Volo and stopped the clock at what was an unbeatable 34.99 seconds to take home just over $41,250.

Corrigan eventually finished fourth with Columbia’s Mark Bluman slotting into the runner-up position with Marilyn, ahead of USA’s Heather Caristo-Williams in third with Marciano MVF in third.

“I didn’t think my time would hold against the riders after me, but I’m lucky that Centriko is actually very fast,” Coyle said afterwards.

“He doesn’t look fast, but the way he jumps makes him faster. He’s like a millimeter above the jumps when he goes clear, so he doesn’t waste time going too high. And with verticals, you can go as fast as his legs will take him. The more delicate a jump, the more carefully he takes it.

“His biggest advantage is how careful he is,” he added. “Going from the vertical to the double (combination), I could really gallop and leave out strides where other people had to be more conservative. If I can get him going very fast, he’ll actually jump everything better.

“For me, Alan (Wade) is the best course builder in the world. His courses don’t feel technical or overly big, but somehow, it’s very hard to jump clear. I chickened out and added a stride (to the last fence), to be honest. On a different horse, I might have left out one more stride, but Centriko is still a little green at this level and a little unsure. I already felt like I was pretty fast and wanted to go clear, and he’s just an unbelievable athlete to jump. It was a good day for the Irish.”