Five-star wins for Dermott Lennon and Daniel Coyle at Spruce Meadows in Canada

Irish riders have continued their excellent run of form at the five-star fixture in Spruce Meadows, Canada. Co Down’s Dermott Lennon and The Irish Sport Horse MJM Pursuit recorded their third win in as many weeks, when taking the top prize in Thursday’s Kubota Cup 1m50. Thirteen of the 53 starters jumped clear in the one-round speed contest, with Lennon taking the winners prize with a time of 61.40 seconds.

Dermott Lennon (IRL) & MJM Pursuit (ISH) (Photo: Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk)

The competition unfolded under heavy rain, however this didn’t seem to bother the Irish rider,

“I’m delighted with MJM (Pursuit), she went super today. She was a bit unlucky yesterday and pulled a shoe and had a couple down. Today with the weather you just had to give them (the horses) time get back and jump the rails, but other than that the footing was fine,” Lennon said.

Jordan Coyle (IRL) & Picador (Photo: Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk)

The action got underway in Spruce Meadows on Wednesday with Derry’s Jordan Coyle adding to his recent run of results – taking victory in the Friends of the Meadows Cup 1m50. Coyle, riding Picador, beat off 100 fellow competitors with a clear round in time of 62.05 giving him his fifth win of the 2019 Spruce Meadows Summer Series.

“It was a very good course, my horse is quite fast and I just stuck to my plan and it worked out.” said Coyle on his plan going into the competition.

Conor Swail also filled third place for Ireland with GK Coco Chanel – finishing two seconds behind Coyle. Among the other notable Irish results this week at Spruce Meadows, Mayo’s Cormac Hanley finished fifth in the 1m55 jump-off class with VD Cartello, while Daniel Coyle scored a win in the 7-year-old competition with Amalia.