IRELAND's Daniel Coyle christened Week 10 of the Winter Equestrian Festival with a victory in the $36,000 Douglas Elliman CSI3* 1.45m today (Wednesday). He was chased home by Conor Swail was third (Captain) and Darragh Kenny in fifth (Billy Dorito).

On the opening day of the three-star week, Canada's Michel Vaillancourt designed a two-round course for 53 starters.

Coyle (24) contested the track with only six to compete behind him. He stopped the timers at 27.98 seconds riding Tienna, an 11-year-old Canadian Sport Horse mare, owned and bred by Ariel Grange’s Lothlorien Farm, based in Cheltenham, Ontario. The time was good enough to bump Eduardo Menezes (BRA) to second aboard H5 Uchingo, owned by H5 Sport Horses, after they held the lead for the majority of the class on a time of 28.37 seconds.

“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.”

Coyle posted a very quick jump-off time over a shortened track and used Tienna’s quickness to his advantage, saying, “These classes are always really competitive, but they are ones she’s really good at. She’s really fast and doesn’t spend a lot of time in the air. There’s only six fences in the jump-off with a double so you can’t really miss a stride anywhere – you’ve got to be going from the get go and hope that the horse is good enough to keep everything up. Today, obviously, she was.”

Of his season at WEF, Coyle noted, “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 chestnut mare; she’ll tell me where she wants to go and I’ll follow.”

Final Results: $36,000 Douglas Elliman CSI 3* 1.45m Classic

1 TIENNA: 2008 Canadian Sport Horse mare by For Pleasure x Polydox DANIEL COYLE (IRL), Ariel Grange: 0/0/27.98

2 H5 UCHINGO: 2004 SBS mare by Chin Chin x Carthago EDUARDO MENEZES (BRA), H5 Sport Horses, LLC: 0/0/28.37

3 CAPTAIN: 2007 KWPN mare by Verdi x Ahorn CONOR SWAIL (IRL), BB Gingras Equestrian Ltd.: 0/0/28.71

4 CHEINDIRA: 2008 SBS mare by Chagall van de Burggrave x Darco LORENZO DE LUCA (ITA), Stephex Stables/Pedro Veniss/Jean Saerens: 0/0/28.81

5 BILLY DORITO: 2010 Anglo European Studbook gelding by Billy Mexico x Vechta DARRAGH KENNY (IRL), Vlock Show Stables LLC: 0/0/29.13

6 LITTLE LORD 90: 2005 Holsteiner gelding by Lasino x Calato KAREN POLLE (JPN), Karen Polle: 0/0/29.16

7 LA LUCIOLE: 2011 Selle Français mare by Pardis Latin x Diamant de Semilly ANDREW KOCHER (USA), Eye Candy Jumpers: 0/0/29.57

8 SENTIMIENTO LS LA SILLA: 2009 gelding by Casall la Silla BEN MAHER (GBR), Westwind Equestrian: 0/0/32.39

9 COMING UP: 2007 KWPN gelding by Tangelo van de Zuuthoeve x Renville GINA PLANTZ (USA), Gina Plantz: 0/0/32.54

10 BALOUS DIAMOND: 2010 Westphalian gelding by Balous Bellini x Polydor GAVIN MOYLAN (CAN), Gavin Moylan: 0/0/33.65

11 VDL ELLIOT: 2009 KWPN gelding by Casall x Goodtimes ALEJANDRO KAROLYI (VEN), Bo Hopson: 0/0/34.34

12 CAMIRA: 2008 Westphalian mare by Cristallo I x Lancer III SARAH SEGAL (USA), T.K. Farm & Horatio Street Ventures, LLC: 0/0/35.02