Twelve weeks of 1.50m competition came to a peak on Saturday evening in the $150,000 Hermès CSI4* 1.50m Championship Jumper Series Final during the penultimate week of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) at Wellington International. From a field bursting with talent and international accolades, Ireland’s Jordan Coyle sealed the deal with For Gold from a 13-horse jump-off with less than a second to spare.
Forty-four qualified entries moved forward to the Hermès Final during the IDA Development sponsored WEF 11 over courses designed by Andy Christiansen (ECU). Coyle and For Gold, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding (For Fashion x Heraldik), owned by Falkirk Farm, returned halfway through the short course and posted a difficult time to beat.
“Winning anything here [at WEF] is pretty good. 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,” said Coyle. “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,” continued Coyle with a laugh. “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 Irishman Conor Swail traveled from California to finish his winter season in Wellington and returned last in the jump-off on Gamble for owner Asta Torokvei. He put the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding’s massive stride to good use, crossing the timers in 39.84 seconds. The effort was strong, but not enough to beat Coyle’s time of 39.69 seconds.