Derry's Jordan Coyle on fire at Tryon

Derry's Daniel Coyle enjoyed a monumental week in the Major League Show Jumping event at Tryon Equestrian Center, securing four major results with four different horses, a testament to the depth of talent he has at his disposal thanks to Ariel Grange’s Lothlorien Farm.

The highlight was a five-star Winning Round success on Saturday, in which the Derry pilot led home an Irish 1-2 with the resurgent Farrel, as Andrew Bourns proved the closest chaser on board Perte Totale De Res Nova.

Coyle also had a runner-up finish in the five-star FEI MLSJ individual competition the previous night with the Queen of Lothlorien, Legacy, and bagged a brace of two-star victories with Calippo 57 and Daydream, the latter in Friday’s two-star Grand Prix.

Shane Sweetnam and Conor Swail joined Bourns as five-star silver medallists, with Sweetnam guiding the Patrick Connolly-bred marvel James Kann Cruz (ISH) to a fifth straight five-star Grand Prix podium and eighth in all this year.

Meanwhile, Swail was denied glory on another Irish Sport Horse, the Brian Duff-bred Clonterm Obolensky by one-hundredth of a second on Thursday night.

Of course the MLSJ has a team concept at its core and Michael Duffy helped his Team Helios secure victory in the team competition with Be Sky Hawk.

Elsewhere, Denis Lynch finished third in the valuable Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Rabat with Cordial yesterday (Sunday), while Eoin McMahon was a two-star winner at Peelbergen on Friday night.

But there is no doubting that North Carolina was the hub of the high-class achievement by Green Jackets and that Coyle was front and centre.

His win arrived in a 1.45m jump-off class in which the top ten progressed through the opening round and it was the 15-year-old Farrel continuing his fairytale run of form following his comeback from a two-year retirement, haring around in the decider without any errors and in a magnificent time of 48.47 seconds.

That was enough to account for Bourns and his progressive ten-year-old, but the Galwegian nonetheless made sure to be one of only three double clears and bagged the silver medal by clocking 50.14.

It was an eighth victory of the year, and fourth at five-star level for Farrel, and he also contributed to the four-star Nations Cup success in Vancouver, when Coyle was joined by his brother Jordan, first cousin Christian and close friend Swail.

Legacy might not have bagged gold but she certainly got supporters engaged, earning animated appreciation after her round in the 1.50m individual speed class. The 15-year-old scorched around the arena clear in 64.62, despite rarely looking like she was out of third gear.

Only Roberto Teran Tafur (COL) and Condara could better that, barely touching the ground as they left all the rails up and stopped the clock in 62.34 to claim the victory.

That matched another five-star runner-up return for an Irish rider 24 hours later, as Coyle and Legacy’s Olympic teammates from Paris, Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz (ISH) sparkled with their efforts to secure the $340,000 MLSJ Grand Prix, just missing out in a jump-off by only two-tenths of a second by Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) with Gadget Mouche.

A dozen partnerships advanced from the opening 1.60m test, including Duffy and Be Sky Hawk, who had contributed to Team Helios’ success in the MLSJ team event the night before.

Unfortunately, the Galway athlete and his up-and-coming nine-year-old had one rail down but eighth was still worth a lot of prize money in a stacked tiebreaker.

It was no surprise to see Gizmo Partners’ James Kann Cruz go clear once more with his Cork-born navigator, and the time recorded of 43.94 was too hot for the likes of third-placed World No 1 Kent Farrington with Greya, as well as the riders of the calibre of Abdel Saïd (BEL), McLain Ward (USA), Skylar Wireman (USA) and Tiffany Foster (CAN).

But Philippaerts and Gadget Mouche found the tiniest margins to grab the first prize, going clear in 43.74 to prevent a second straight Irish triumph in the Grand Prix after Swail’s win with Casturano 12 months ago.

“I have a lot of experience coming second this year so I always felt there was someone that maybe could catch me, but I left everything out there,” said Sweetnam.

“James Kann Cruz is brilliant, and his results speak for themselves. Not just this year, every year. When you go to jump on him, you know you have a chance.”

Saïd and Calvaro denied Swail another five-star success at this show in Thursday night’s five-star Grand Prix Qualifier. The Down native maintained his consistency in this series with the most agonising of second-place finishes, partnering Oliver Glancy’s Clonterm Obolensky (ISH).

The jump-off for the 1.50m class was a lengthy affair, with 17 of the 46 pairs returning but when the dust had settled, it was Said who just prevailed, stopping the timers at 36.66 with Calvaro to wrench the top prize from Swail’s grasp, after the 54-year-old and Obi had appeared to have done enough with his ultra-fast second clear.

In the $262,500 five-star team competition on Friday evening, Duffy and Be Sky Hawk were joined by German duo Tony Stormanns aboard Donjon d’Asschaut and Richard Vogel (GER) riding Michael Jackson W to win Leg 5.

Seventeen-year-old Stormanns, whose mother Helena is team manager, made an impactful debut by jumping to the team’s only fault-free day. Duffy and Vogel jumped jump-off clears to set the youngster up for a heroic conclusion, a clear in 46.80 seconds cementing the spoils.

“If you throw enough mud at the wall, some of it's going to stick eventually,” joked Duffy. “That's always our motto; to be there or thereabouts as much as we can. Clear rounds matter. In the end, we can get caught up on the speed, but the clear rounds are probably what matter most.

“It’s brilliant. It’s great for young Tony. He’s only 17, he’s only the pup of the litter. It’s great for him, last to go and all that.

“Helena is the boss and she wanted myself and Richie to get into the jump-off if we could. He’s no slouch, Tony, for his age. He’s well able to put the ball in the net.

“We haven’t been in the bottom four yet (so) if we keep chipping away at it over the season, we’ll hopefully be there or thereabouts.

Lynch didn’t top the winner’s podium in Rabat but he enjoyed a strong week in the Moroccan capital with his brace of five-star 16-year-olds, posting a clear round for his team with Cordial in the Longines Global Champions League on Friday and then just missing out on a top-five finish in the five-star jump-off class on Saturday, making the tiebreaker after the indomitable Brooklyn Heights made light of the 1.50m test.

The duo added another clear round in a time of 39.94 but Germany’s Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmerman took the major spoils with Iron Dames High Level, who posted the only sub 38-second round, 37.18, to prevail with a degree of comfort from her compatriot Christian Ahlmann, with D’Aganix (38.43).

Lynch saved the best for last for yesterday (Sunday), the Tipperary man returning with Cordial to make a seven-combo jump-off that yielded only one double clear.

It was 19-year-old Monaco representative, Anastasia Nielsen that managed the only double clear, with Action Man, to log a landmark result. Andreas Schoul (SUI) was fastest of four-faulters with Napoli vh Nederassenthof (45.59) with Lynch and Cordial next on 46.51 after having one rail down.

That moved Lynch to sixth in the individual rankings, just ahead of Scott Brash (GBR), with Belgian Gilles Thomas still in a clear lead.

Mikey Pender was fourth in a five-star speed class earlier in the week with Madgeslane Louis (ISH), the hugely promising eight-year-old he bred himself and co-owns with his mother AnnMarie.

The athlete from Co Kildare coolly plotted his way around the Moroccan arena, clearing all 14 jumps over the 1.45m track in a time of 70.58 seconds. The ‘W’ went to Denmark’s Zascha Nygaard (DEN) with another eight-year-old, Stathagnio PS, who registered a blindingly quick time of 61.07.

At two-star level, after Coyle prevailed in the 75-strong Grand Prix Qualifier at Tryon with a double clear and winning tiebreak time of 32.22 with Calippo 57 on Thursday night, he held off two whipper-snappers too young to drink the champagne that sprayed around afterwards, to land the Grand Prix itself 24 hours later.

Coming in last in the jump-off with Daydream, the Ardmore man snatch the verdict with a clear round in a rapid time of 38.01 to deny the 17-year-old German, Tony Stormanns, with Cassius Clay.

Olivia Sweetnam, the 16-year-old daughter of Shane though representing USA, was third with Epic.

“Ariel Grange bought her last year, and we had really high hopes for her,” Coyle said of Daydream. “This is her third Grand Prix win this year.”

McMahon, the Clare rider who had a big hand in helping bring the aforementioned Clonterm Obolensky through the ranks until Swail took over the reins in May, got a taste of success with Calleth You Cometh I in the two-star Grand Prix Qualifier at Peelbergen’s 10th anniversary show on Friday night, beating off another dozen competitors in the tiebreaker to land the spoils in the GumBits Arena with a time of 33.79.