FOUR Irish riders finished in the top five in Sunday’s final four-star class at the Winter Equestrian Festival, the $75,000 1.50m jump-off. It was Derry’s Jordan Coyle who eventually came out on top with his five-star Gran Prix-winning mount Ariso to earn the top prize of $24,750.

Some 47 combinations set out to contest the track and 12 of those entries proved good enough to earn themselves a spot in the jump-off.

Co Louth’s Mark McAuley set the standard and looked like he was heading towards a win with Cap West when he was clear in 39.11 seconds. However, Belgium’s Nicola Philippaerts then managed to shave just under a second off his time in 37.48.

That time held up until Coyle, known for his speed against the clock entered the arena with the Elan Farm’s 11-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion Ariso (Casall x Contender). The pair are no strangers to the victory gallop after having won several five-star and four-star events including Coyle’s first five-star Grand Prix win in the $230,000 Adequan Major League Show Jumping Grand Prix CSI5* in December of 2021.

They managed to shave a couple hundredths of a second off the leading time, breaking the beam in 37.29 seconds to take victory. Towards the end of the class, Wexford’s Bertram Allen, also in Florida for the winter circuit, slotted into third place with his own Carlo 454 in 38.37. McAuley had to settle for fourth while Cian O’Connor was fifth with Ronoco Jump Ltd’s Cerruti Van Ter Hulst Z (39.26).

“I’ve had him for two years now after purchasing him from Shane Sweetnam, and he has just been a great horse for me,” commented Coyle after the win. “Things didn’t exactly go according to plan last night [12 faults in the Grand Prix] so we decided to jump him again today and it turned out well.

“He is turning out to be very fast,” continued Coyle. “Some people would say it’s me but I think it is the horse, and if I just do what everyone else does he is normally faster. I watched Mark [McAuley], and he had a very good round so I just tried to replicate what he did.”

Cian O’Connor also finished fifth in Friday’s four-star 1.45m with the 13-year-old Cathalina S, who has recently joined his string from British rider Alex Thompson.