Past, present and future in lights this week
Coyle maintains Incredible run as youthful Green Jackets win Nations Cup
The Irish enjoyed plenty of success around the show jumping world once again, even if five-star wins just eluded Daniel Coyle, who was second twice with Incredible at the 67th Washington International Horse Show, most notably in Saturday night’s Presidents Cup.
Those results propelled Coyle to the top of the North American League table for the FEI World Cup and Conor Swail registered three top-five finishes to leave the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro in fourth.
It was, of course, a very emotional week for Swail, as it began with his announcement that Count Me In would be retiring to Conall Murray’s Mannon Farm, in Swail’s own home town of Darragh Cross.
Crosby was a five-star winning machine, once ranked No 2 in the world and the now 18-year-old helped his rider hit No 4. He will be indelibly linked with the Aga Khan Trophy, which he helped secure for Ireland in the most dramatic fashion in 2022 with three clear rounds, including that nerve-wracking but flawless jump-off to realise a lifelong dream for his rider.
Back in Europe, Denis Lynch secured a four-star podium in Liège, while at three-star level, a very young Irish team of Susan Fitzpatrick, Niamh McEvoy, Max Wachman and Ethen Ahearne won the Nations Cup in Vejer de la Frontera, with Taylor Vard as chef d’equipe, while Cian O’Connor left with an individual victory under his belt.
There were a couple of two-star wins also in Andalucía for Frano Derwin, including in the Grand Prix, in which McEvoy bagged the silver medal, and Daniel Fitzgerald was also on the victory trail at Sentower Park.
On Friday, Coyle was just touched off in the international accumulator competition on time by Rodrigo Pessoa, the Brazilian who was chef d’equipe of Ireland’s European Championships winning team in 2017.
The thrilling 1.45m class, which had the added ingredient of the riders and horses wearing themed costumes, went down to fine margins, with the top eight all scoring 65 points.
They included Swail and Theo but their time of 49.26 meant they had to settle for fourth.
Coyle and Incredible – who had the very obvious Mr Incredible to base themselves on – got even closer to the lion’s share of the prize money, stopping the timers in 47.51 but Pessoa and Corrie 9 shaved 0.19 of that mark to land the honours, with the previous night’s winners, McLain Ward (USA) and First Lady completing a high-class podium.
On Saturday, the Ardmore-reared world No 9 and Incredible excelled once more, this time sporting regulation uniform. They found American favourite, Laura Kraut and the appropriately named Tres Bien Z unbeatable in the show’s feature, the President’s Cup Trophy for the $340,000 FEI Jumping World Cup.
Fittingly for such a prestigious prize, and even though the world No 1 Kent Farrington (USA) and No 2 Ben Maher (GBR) were in the field and a total of 12 Olympians, there were only three double clears and the first by Kraut, with a time of 40.83 seconds, could not be bested.
Incredible is no slouch, of course, and in Coyle has an astute navigator. The duo gave it a real go and stopped the clock in 41.14 to secure $68,000, with Maher in third on Faltic HB.
Swail was the personification of consistency at the Show Place Arena, and prior to Theo’s fourth in the aforementioned accumulator had collected a couple of ribbons on Thursday’s opening day of international competition at the Maryland venue.
Swail kicked off with a fourth-place finish on Casturano in the Welcome Stakes. The 1.55m competition was won after an exciting jump-off by Ward (USA) and First Lady, but Swail and the 12-year-old gelding owned, like Count Me In, by Murray, registered two excellent clear rounds, slotting into fifth with a time of 35.53 seconds in the tiebreaker.
The Down man was in the stirrups on Theo 160 in the Stars and Stripes Speed Final after that and the pair navigated the 1.50m class clear in 57.26 seconds, narrowly missing out on a podium position in a class won comfortably by Daniel Bluman (ISR) with Gemma W.
Lynch was in action at the four-star show in Liège and kicked off on Thursday with a bronze medal in the Prix Liège Airport on board Katja.
There were 58 participants in the 1.45m speed class and the only Irish representative steered his ten-year-old mare to the top echelons with a blemish-free trip in a time of 60.07 seconds, behind Niklaus Rautschi (SUI) and Oxana Vd Bisschop, who took the overall spoils in 58.25, and runner-up Jérȏme Guery (BEL), who clocked 58.61 with Gigolo Di Villagna.
In three-star competition, pride of place went to Vard’s Nations Cup winning team in Andalucía (above and main pic).
The Green Jackets unit of Susan Fitzpatrick with Lovely Stassi PS, Niamh McEvoy with Olympic GL FVD, Max Wachman with Tipperary and Ethen Ahearne with Heritage Bloodstock-bred Irish Sport Horse LVS Goldrush H, excelled to take the top spot with just six faults, two clear of Brazil on eight.
Clear rounds by Fitzpatrick and Ahearne, in company with McEovy’s two time faults set a brilliant platform for the triumph.
Fitzpatrick had four faults to get the second stanza under way but with McEvoy leaving all the rails up again the second time but crucially within the required time, and Wachman putting the disappointment of eight first-round faults in the rear view mirror with a perfect trip, there was no need for Ahearne to even get in the saddle only to accept the garlands and the plaudits of the appreciative public.
Canbella Blue PS has been jumping some lovely rounds for O’Connor in the past few weeks and they earned their reward for that reliability by scoring in the three-star Stephex Trophy in Vejer de la Frontera on Saturday.
Competing against 75 other combinations in the 1.50m two-phase class, the world No 24 and his 11-year-old mare owned by Karlswood Partners recorded a fantastic double clear.
It was the time in the speed phase that was scarcely believable however, the timers stopping at 21.14 seconds to leave no room for argument about the result. Runner-up Carlee McCutcheon (USA) was more than two seconds in arrears with Aralyn Blue.
Friday’s Nations Cup winner, Fitzpatrick completed a memorable weekend by finishing fifth in the Diputación de Cádiz Grand Prix with Valisco PS.
There were 14 contestants in the jump-off, with four Irish athletes in total. Ahearne and LVS Goldrush (ISH) had four faults, however, as did Tom Wachman with Obora’s Laura and O’Connor with Gengis Kann de Londe, meaning they had to settle for minor prize money.
Fitzpatrick and Valisco PS were outstanding though, going clear again in 41.13 to grab a valuable top-five finish and only two-hundredths of a second away from fourth. Victory whent to Jodie Hall McAteer (GBR) with Key West.
In Saturday’s other ranking class at Andalucía, the 1.45m two-star Grand Prix, the Irish were very well represented on the podium. The winnerd for the second time in the week were Derwin and Parvati AEG, in a very competitive 14-horse tiebreaker, beating off McEvoy, who was riding the Austin Broderick-bred BP Rocket Man (ISH). O’Connor was fourth with Corinna Z.
Derwin was victorious first on Friday in a 1.45m speed class. In a competition that was contested by a whopping 86 combinations, the Athlone man guided Parvati AEG to a clear in 62.85, more than a second faster than the best of the rest, Germany’s Tom Schewe with Lester, in the Milton Sand Arena.
At Sentower Park, Daniel Fitzgerald won a 1.45m two-phase special with Grifonder du Rouet on Saturday, snatching the honours with a 31.33 clear in the speed portion of the competition. Eoin McMahon was third with Disney Z.
BREEDING
LVS GOLDRUSH H (ISH) – 2016 gelding by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of Arcadia Lvs Z (ZANG) by Arko III (OLD). Breeder: Heritage Bloodstock LTD. Owner: Dermot Walsh. Rider: Ethen Ahearne (IRL).
BP ROCKET MAN (ISH) – 2017 br gelding by Stakkato Gold (HANN) out of BP Quidy (ISH) by Quidam Junior (KWPN). Breeder: Austin Broderick (Ballypatrick Stables), Co Tipperary. Owner: Richard Kirby. Rider: Niamh McEvoy (IRL)
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