The Desert Horse Park Roadrunners found a winning formula on Saturday afternoon as they stormed to victory in the $346,000 Premier Equestrian 5* Team Competition at Major League Show Jumping's fourth leg in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, ON.
Coming off a winning streak that included two 5* victories on Friday, Ireland's Daniel Coyle – ranked no. 15 in the world – went head-to-head with Jessica Mendoza (GBR) of Eye Candy in the gold medal match-up. Coyle rode Ivory TCS to a swift time of 43.87 seconds to best Mendoza aboard I-Cap CL Z after she pulled a rail and added three seconds to her time of 47.54 seconds.
World no. 5 Mclain Ward (USA) piloted First Lady to a first-round clear and set the pace for the Roadrunners. After he downed a pole in the second round, Great Britain's Amanda Derbyshire pulled off a clutch clear riding Otto BH to send Coyle to the gold-medal round, and ultimately the team to the winner's circle.
Mendoza settled for silver alongside Eye Candy's Irish duo of Paul O'Shea and Richie Moloney. Continuing to climb their way up the rankings list, Helios – defending season champions from 2022 – rounded out to podium with riders Erynn Ballard (CAN), Vanessa Hood (USA) and Roberto Teran (COL).
"We've had an unlucky start, but we are a great team. It was a real team effort tonight. Everyone knows we're here now! Thankfully, Eye Candy had a rail and made it slightly easier for me. The hard work in this format is probably the second round." says Daniel Coyle.