Brilliant Ireland win Lisbon Nations Cup while Derry’s Daniel Coyle lands five-star Longines Grand Prix in Canada

  • 2 June 2018, 08:37

An incredible run of results for Irish Show Jumping has continued this weekend, with two major victories for Ireland late last night (Friday) at Lisbon in Portugal and at British Colombia in Canada.

Trevor Breen, Michael Duffy, Taylor Vard (Chef d’Equipe), Paul Kennedy and Anthony Condon stand on the podium after victory in the Lisbon Nations Cup

The Irish team, led by Chef d’Equipe Taylor Vard, proved unbeatable in the three-star Longines FEI Nations Cup at Lisbon in Portugal, where a high-scoring contest saw Tipperary’s Trevor Breen deliver the only double clear of the competition with Bombay. Ireland were in joint second at the halfway stage thanks to clears from Breen and Waterford’s Anthony Condon riding SFS Aristio, along with an 8 fault score from Limerick’s Paul Kennedy with Cartown Danger Mouse (ISH). Breen’s second clear round with Bombay saw Ireland put pressure on leaders Belgium and four fault scores from Condon and from Galway’s Michael Duffy riding Jule Van Den Tinnenpot, saw Ireland finish out in front on a two round total of 16 faults.

Asked afterwards if having an Irish course designer [Alan Wade] helped Ireland win, Irish Chef d’Equipe Taylor Vard said:

“No not really, Alan is pretty fair and he was tough on all of us. It was a great competition. Congratulations to Belgium and to the United States, they gave us a good fight, but it was our night.”

Belgium finished as runners-upon 21 faults while USA finished third of the 9 teams that took part on 28 faults.

Horse Sport Ireland CEO Ronan Murphy added:

“I want to congratulate Taylor Vard and his team on a fantastic result in Lisbon. A special mention must go to the owners of our fantastic horses for making them available to the Irish team and to all the backroom staff that put in such hard work to help make this happen.”

Daniel Coyle wins $235,000 five-star Longines Grand Prix in Canada

The Irish National Anthem also rang out in the early hours of this morning across the Atlantic, where Derry’s Daniel Coyle came out on top in the $235,000 five-star Longines Grand Prix at Langley’s Nations Cup show in Canada.

Daniel Coyle and Cita

Coyle and the Ariel Grange-owned Cita proved unbeatable in what was the first five-star Grand Prix in the 45-year history of Thunderbird Show Park.

Six of the 34 starters made it into the second round, with Coyle taking the top prize after jumping clear again against the clock in a time of 40.98 seconds. Canada’s Mario Deslauriers and Bardolina finished second in 42.02, while Eugenio Garza Perez (MEX) produced the only other double clear round with Armani SL Z to finish third in 43.29.

“I’m not quite sure [where I won the class], but from talking to people outside, I’d say it was probably back to the second-last fence,” Coyle explained. “I was very tight there, and there was a hedge behind it, which made it not easy to jump, and I took a big risk there, and that’s probably what did it.”

The win marked Coyle’s second five-star grand prix victory of the year, after topping the Douglas Elliman Real Estate Grand Prix CSI5* in Wellington in March. Coyle said his and his mount’s partnership has reached a new level in 2018.

“It took me a little bit in the beginning to figure out which way she likes to go and where she likes to jump the bigger fences easier,” he said. “She likes you to be very nice to her, just like any girl does. She’s very sweet horse, and the more you believe in her, the more she believes in herself. That’s probably the biggest thing I had to learn.”

Coyle and Cita will also jump for Ireland in Sunday’s €400,000 Longines FEI Nations Cup in Langley where Ireland have been drawn first to jump of five teams.

Irish development team manager Michael Blake has named his team as follows:

Daniel Coyle with Cita
Capt Brian Cournane with Dino
Richie Moloney with Carrabis Z
Conor Swail with Rubens LS La Silla

The Canadian Nations Cup in Langley gets underway at 10pm Irish time on Sunday night.

Equiline – Official athlete clothing supplier of Team Ireland Equestrian

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