CO Derry’s Jordan Coyle (25) recorded the biggest win of his career to-date last Sunday when he came out on top in the Longines FEI World Cup Grand Prix at the four-star show in Leon, Mexico, with Eristov.

Just two of the 21 starters managed to jump clear in the opening 1.60m round, with Coyle drawn first to go in the jump-off.

He crossed the line clear in 40.37 seconds to put the pressure on Mexico’s Salvador Onate and Big Red, who were fresh off a win in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup in Guadalajara just two weeks prior.

Onate would have to settle for second place on this occasion after a clear in 41.96 failed to beat the target set by Ireland’s Coyle. Mexico’s Federico Fernandez and Davidoff finished third, having recorded just a single time fault in the first round.

The 10-year-old gelding Eristov, by Cicero Z Van Paemel, is owned by Elan Farm and has been in Coyle’s string since January 2018, where they enjoyed some success at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida.

“My horse is naturally very fast,” Coyle said afterwards. “Going first, I wasn’t sure what to do, as I’m new to Mexico [and this show circuit]. I went as fast as I could go, and it worked.

“On a day like this, I don’t think there are many horses in the world that are as good as him [Eristov]. This is without a doubt my biggest win so far.”

The result has moved Coyle up to 16th place on the FEI World Cup North American Eastern Sub-League, with one more round remaining at Live Oak in Ocala, Florida before the 2019 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, in April.

Coyle also scored three other wins at the Mexican venue. The first of those came in Wednesday’s 1.40m aboard Quarto Mail, and the combination followed up with a second win in Saturday’s 1.30 two-phase. He also guided Bold Prinz to win Sunday’s 1.45m class in what was an outstanding weekend for the Derry native.