Coyle and Tienna finished the second half of the course in 28.50 seconds for victory. They just pipped Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Cyklon 1083, owned by Spy Coast Farm LLC, who had the previous leading time of 28.70 seconds. Close behind was Santiago Lambre (MEX), who rode his own Doloris to third place in 29.04 seconds and was fourth on Integrated Services Florida LLC’s D’Artagnan in 29.52 seconds.
“She’s a homebred, which makes it a little more special for Ariel and the farm,” said Coyle of the mare he previously rode in Under 25 competitions. “She’s always been one of my favorites. To get a win here today, and it was very competitive, there was very little room for any mistakes. There was no real difference at the top.”
Having moved the mare up to the grand prix ranks recently, Coyle has had to adjust to Tienna’s way of going.
He said, “She’s a chestnut mare, and one thing I’ve found out that I should have known already is that she’s a typical chestnut mare. She really likes to go her own way. If you get involved with her way of going too much, she really doesn’t like it. If that’s way she likes to go and the way she likes to win, then of course, that’s it.”
Barazi Wins for Jordan
Victory in the $8,000 Rose Hill Farm 1.40m CSI 2* went to Ibrahim Barazi of Jordan, who not only is the first rider from Jordan to win in the FEI division at the Winter Equestrian Festival, but also scored his first FEI victory in just his fourth FEI competition. He rode Omnia Incipit, a 10-year-old mare owned by IB Stable, to the win in a time of 37.15 seconds. Second place went to Georgina Bloomberg (USA) on Paola 233, owned by Gotham Enterprizes, in 35.38 seconds. Willie Tynan (IRL) and Red Barn Farm LLC’s KEC City Limits were third in 36.43 seconds.