Major League Show Jumping came to a close on Sunday with a double-header for Ireland's Daniel Coyle. After topping the CIS5* Winning Round to open the day, he climbed to the top of the podium in the $217,200 Whittier Trust CSI5* Grand Prix riding Legacy, a 12-year-old Zangersheide mare (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami), owned by Ariel Grange.
Coyle was the first to crack the code on Michel Vaillancourt's (CAN) course and led the way into a four-horse jump-off. He put Legacy's foot speed to the test as the first to return over the jump-off course and posted a time to beat that could not be caught. Fellow Irishman Conor Swail contested Coyle's time but came up short by three full seconds aboard Nadal Hero & DB, a nine-year-old BWP stallion (Kannan x Polydor), owned by Mannon Farm. Swail settled for second.
In a career-best performance, Canada's Sean Jobin and Darius, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding (Warrant x Calvados), owned by Foxridge Farms Stables, rounded out the podium in third.
"Legacy has been phenomenal for me since we bought her. We got her as an eight-year-old and and I produced her as a championship horse. After the World Championships this year, we changed course a little bit and decided maybe, now, we should try and win some grand prixs. And she's 12 years old and she's getting better and better and I'm getting to know her a little bit better in the jump-offs also. Yeah, I cannot say enough good things about her. I'm really, really lucky that Ariel Grange bought her for me." ~ Daniel Coyle (IRL).
Everything is on the line during the final week of Major League Show Jumping next week. The season concludes December 7-10 at Desert International Horse Park.
