DERRY’S Daniel Coyle has added another World Cup class victory to his ever-increasing list of successes, after winning the $200,000 1.60m Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Grand Prix with 11-year-old gelding Incredible at Ocala, Florida, on Sunday. This was the final leg of the 2023-2024 North American League season, held at Live Oak International, a combined driving and show jumping event, at Live Oak Stud.

There were 32 combinations on the start list for the class, but only four of them managed to jump clear over Olaf Petersen Jr’s (GER) stiff first-round track and proceed to the jump-off.

Jessica Leto (USA) and Cimbura were first to return, hoping to secure another clear round, but a pole down put them on four faults. Co Down’s Dermott Lennon also had an unfortunate four faults, when the 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse Millview Cicero slipped just before take-off on a turn-back to an oxer.

Kent Farrington (USA) was next in and jumped the first double clear of the class on board Toulayna in a time of 42.58 seconds, which put him into the lead, but last to go Coyle hit the accelerator and galloped at high speed around the short course; his time of 40.37 seconds secured the win. It was a good St Patrick’s Day for Ireland, as Lennon and Millview Cicero (Cicero Z Van Paemal (BWP) x Royal Dutch (KWPN) x Oklund (KWPN)), bred by Harry Marshall, finished third (4/44.05).

Coyle said afterwards: “I’ve had a really, really good experience with the World Cup already, but I think this is the first year I’ve ever won three [in one season], so I’m really, really happy about that.”

Coyle, who competed in the 2023 World Cup finals in Omaha (USA), this year divided his season between the Western European League, where he won legs at Leipzig (GER) and Amsterdam (NED) on Legacy, and the North American League, where he has won the final leg of the season riding Incredible, whom he only started riding in January.

At the end of the season, Coyle leads the NAL standings with 75 points, ahead of Daniel Bluman (ISR) on 43 points and Shane Sweetnam (IRL) on 41 points. The 2024 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final takes place from April 16-20 in Riyadh (KSA).

Dermot Lennon and Millview Cicero claimed third place in the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ NAL 2023/24 in Ocala \ FEI/Shannon Brinkman

Incredible

“Every time I go in the ring, I’m finding something new [in Incredible]. It’s great that I can find that out while competing at the top of the sport,” Coyle said. “He was incredible before I got him, and it’s good to know that I was a good rider before, he was a good horse before, and today I can say that we are also very good together.”

Olympic and World champion, Jeroen Dubbeldam (NED), who is Coyle’s mentor, found Incredible for the Irish rider, who wanted another horse to add to his string to support Legacy at the top of the sport. Incredible had jumped well with Eric Ten Cate (NED) throughout the Longines EEF Series in Drammen (NOR) and Ebreichsdorf (AUT).

“[Incredible] wasn’t so much in the spotlight. He had already done some Nations Cup [events] and done some really good things, but his rider didn’t get the chance to go to the big shows every week,” Coyle said. “Jeroen said, ‘We should try him’. Immediately, we saw that he would fit with us, and he could really help Legacy. He has done that and more.

“I’m really, really happy,” he added. “I have somebody like Ariel [Grange], who can step up and buy the horses and somebody like Jeroen as a mentor, who can actually find the horses for me.

“It’s hard to scout horses when you’re concentrating on riding the horses that you have… We have a really good team right now.”

Ireland has had a fantastic World Cup season in North America, winning four of the eight qualifiers. Robert Blanchette won the opening qualifier in Sacramento; Shane Sweetnam won the leg in Lexington; Conor Swail added another Irish victory in Las Vegas, before Coyle’s win in Ocala on St Patrick’s Day.

Daniel Coyle and Incredible on their way to winning the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ NAL 2023/24 in Ocala \ FEI/Shannon Brinkman

Placings

Show jumping at Live Oak International began on Friday, March 15th, when Dermot Lennon made a good start with a sixth place out of 34 starters in the CSI4*-W $5,000 1.40m Welcome class riding Millview Cicero, while in the CSI1* $2,000 1.30m Welcome class, Jordan Coyle rode Costa Diam into third place out of 38 starters.

The highlight of the day was the CSI4*-W $50,000 1.55m qualifier, which saw an Irish one-two for Simon McCarthy and Daniel Coyle from a starting field of 40. Cork’s McCarthy took the top spot with the 13-year-old mare Gotcha, with Coyle finishing as runner-up on Incredible.

Saturday started with the CSI1* $5,000 1.40m Grand Prix, where Lennon rode Cordiamo into third place, while Daniel Coyle and Legacy finished sixth in the CSI4*-W $32,000 1.50m class, when they were among the six of the 23 starters to jump clear in the first round. McCarthy on Gotcha followed them in eighth place.