Ireland’s Jordan Coyle, Conor Swail finish 1-2
WELLINGTON — Ireland, enjoying one of its finest Winter Equestrian Festivals, finished one-two in the “Saturday Night Lights” $150,000 Hermes CSI4 1.50-meter Championship Jumper Series Final at Wellington International.
Ireland’s Jordan Coyle won with his 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding For Gold in a marathon 13-rider jump-off with a lightning-quick clear round of 39.69 seconds. He won $49,500.
“Winning anything here [at WEF] is pretty good,” Coyle said. “To be honest, that was one of the only times I ever went into the arena in a big competition and felt like I was one of the favorites. He felt very fast tonight, and I have come to know him very well.
“I thought Conor [Swail] was for sure going to beat me going to that last jump. He’s beat me plenty before, but luckily today it’s been the other way around. This is the first Saturday night that I’ve won. I’ve been trying for a while, so it’s pretty nice.”
Fellow countryman Connor Swail and 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood Gamble were second in 39.84 ($30,000).
“What Gamble does better than most horses is he turns extremely well, and I knew I was able to get inside that vertical after the double of verticals,” Swail said. “Everything came up well for me.
“WEF is where all the high level competition is and if you’re coming here and winning anything above 1.50 meter, you’ve really earned it. I’m glad that I’m able to come and show everybody that I am competitive.”
American Abigail McArdle and 10year-old Belgian Warmblood Olympia van het Eikenhof were third in 40.95 ($22,500).
“I’m very happy to be here in this company,” McArdle said. “This is our first night class. We have taken it pretty slow, but she has a great brain, a lot of scope and is easy, everything you want in the horse.”
Canadian Erynn Ballard won the overall series title after consistent results throughout the season. She won $10,000 Hermès store credit and a Hermès horse rug.
On Sunday, American Lillie Keenan and Agana Van Het Gerendal Z won the $200,000 FEI 4 IDA Development Grand Prix. The pair had double clear rounds in 78.15 and 35.75 to win $66,000. Canadian Mario Deslauriers and Bardolina 2 were second in 75.57/ 37.23 ($40,000), and Nina Mallevaey of Belgium and Cartier Sr. were third in 80.19/38.41 ($30,000).
Ireland wins Longines League of Nations in Ocala
Ireland (Shane Sweetnam, Daniel Coyle, Cian O’Connor, Darragh Kenny) won the $770,000 Longines League of Nations 10-team event on Saturday at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. Ireland finished with five faults. Switzerland (Steve Guerdat, Pius Schwizer, Martin Fuchs, Janika Sprunger) was second with 8 faults and the United States (Laura Kraut, Kent Farrington, McLain Ward, Aaron Vale) was third with 12 faults. Fuchs also won the Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix with 12year-old Leone Jei in a 36.68-second jumpoff.
WEF comes to a close this weekend. This week’s highlight is the circuitending “Saturday Night Lights” $500,000 FEI 5 Rolex Grand Prix at 7:30 p.m.
General admission is free. Parking is $20 per car.
The venue is located at 3400 Equestrian Club Drive, just off South Shore and Pierson Road. For information, call 561-793-5867.