Two Irish athletes on the podium after the two-star Grand Prix at Tryon on Saturday night (27th June 2026) with Claregalway's Stephen Byrne and Pearl Gem VDM (Carol Sollak) coming second behind Britain's Amanda Derbyshire and Cornwall.
Tuamgraney's David Blake and Gucci Des Embruns (Paloma Santa Cruz De Osma) bagged the bronze, with the three only separated by three-tenths of a second.
The Coyle brothers, Daniel and Jordan, were on the winner’s rostrum, three times between them and Tabitha Kyle and Trevor Breen, like Jordan Coyle, winning three-star Grands Prix.
There were podium finishes too for Conor Swail, Shane Sweetnam, Philip McGuane, Shane Breen, Stephen Moore and David Blake.
Daniel Coyle was the big winner in terms of coming out on top in another five-star class with Farrel (Ariel Grange) at Spruce Meadows on Friday.
The Ardmore athlete is always at home in Calgary and most of all, on Farrel. This was their fourth significant international success of the year and third at the top flight, and with a modicum of fortune, the duo would have supplemented that tally by another three or four in recent weeks.
Seven years after winning a World Cup leg in nearby Langley, and with the Lothlorien Farm gelding putting a four-year injury hiatus well in the rearview mirror, the pair repeated what has become almost the norm in the past 18 months or so, stopping the clock in a blistering 40.64 seconds to take the Canadian Utilities Cup by more than one second from Lillie Keenan (USA) and Kick On.
Coyle’s fellow Ulsterman, Darragh Cross native Conor Swail and Ollie Glancy’s Clonterm Obolensky (ISH), bred in Ashbourne by Brian Duff, rounded out the podium in third.
A total of 63 horse-and-rider combinations passed through the iconic Clock Tower, something 13 of them achieved. Farrel is always a threat when the timers come into play as his more diminutive stature compared to many of his rivals aids nimbleness and tight turns. And that was to prove the difference once more as they finished more than a second faster than second-place finishers Lillie Keenan (USA) and Kick On.
“The most challenging thing today in the first round was the double at the end of the course,” said Coyle. “It was either seven strides or eight strides into the double and I’m not sure which was correct, seven or eight!
“I could go on for days about what I love about Spruce Meadows. The big thing is I get to know my horses even better, the younger ones especially. This arena is very unique. You don’t just ride like you do anywhere else. It’s two gears faster and the jumps are twice as long as they are anywhere else. It’s a little different, but I like it.”
On Sunday, Swail and Casturano (Conall Murray) were fourth in the West Canadian Cup, a 1.45m jump-off class won by Richard Vogel (GER) and Phenyo Van Het Keysersbos, who were also successful in the previous day’s 1.50m competition.
There were a couple of examples of sibling rivalry among the Green Jackets this week. The phenomenon of wanting to outdo a family member is not a new one and while Daniel Coyle might have landed a five-star prize, older brother Jordan was victorious twice at three-star level with Ariso (Elan Farm), including in Sunday’s Grand Prix in Lake Placid.
The duo topped a field of 35 at the North Elba Showgrounds, having been one of nine entries to reach the jump-off by going clean over the 16-effort, first-round course. McLain Ward (USA) was the second to try the nine-effort tiebreaker course, and he set the mark to beat with a clean ride in 41.80 seconds on First Lady.
Ward’s lead held until Coyle returned on Ariso, and the 15-year-old left every rail in place while blitzing to a time of 41.23 to overtake the six-time Olympian.
“You never know in this sport, everything has such fine margins that you never actually know till it’s over what’s going to happen,” Coyle said. “If you can beat McLain, then that’s always a good gauge that you were pretty fast.
“This is for sure the form of his life at the moment,” head added of Ariso. “He won some big classes for me in his younger days, but then he had a few years of not much pressure and not much being asked of him. In the past year, he’s come back to being probably better and more consistent than he ever has been. It’s really quite exciting.”
The duo had warmed up nicely for the feature by winning the three-star jump-off class on Friday night and Jordan completed a 1-2 in the 43-strong class courtesy of For Gold.
The winners were the first of 14 to go clear, meaning they acted as pathfinder in the decider.
It turned out that there was no improvement in what they eked out from the course blazing around in 35.77. Not even Coyle himself could go better, though he was closer than the rest, For Gold being clean in 35.99.
“With a horse like Ariso, there really is only one plan for the jump-offs, so it doesn’t really matter what number you go,” Jordan explained.
“Today, he had a really big advantage over everyone else with the long distances between jumps. He has a massive stride, and I was able to leave a few strides out. It was his stride that made the difference in the class.
“This is my first time back here since For Gold won the Grand Prix on the grass field in 2023, so it’s my first time in this new arena, and it’s outstanding.”
There was a strong Irish representation in the presentation ceremonies all week at Lake Placid.
Jordan Coyle was on the podium again on Saturday with Dexterity Z (Elan Farm) in the speed class in the Banbridge Companies Grand Prix Arena but he wasn’t the best of those from these shores on this occasion, as Philip McGuane finished second with Donvier (Evergate Stables), with a time of 67.2 compared to Coyle’s 69.09.
It was the second international silver medal of the week for the Corofin (Co Clare) pilot, who is on a red-hot run of form at the moment. He began on Thursday by guiding Donvier to second behind Vasco Flores (PUR) and Stena in a two-phase class on Thursday night.
The duo were more than two seconds off the winning time in the speed section, but 35.15 was enough to be best of the remaining 46 combinations.
Sunday yielded two more three-star Grands Prix victories for Irish riders. Tabitha Kyle guided Desterly (TJ Hall) to a fantastic victory in the World Cup Grand Prix at the EEF show in Budapest.
But the Wicklow rider and her 18-year-old had plenty in the tank after a big week to record a very comfortable triumph over a field of 56. And the calibre of the opposition in the 1.55m contest was top tier, as illustrated by the calibre of her nearest challenger, the Austrian, Max Kühner.
Only five combinations made it to the jump-off and at the end of the day, there was no matching the Irish pair, with Kuhner on board Kurt D Z, who while half Desterly’s age, did not possess the same gears, the victors’ 37.11 almost two seconds quicker than the time of the runners-up.
And there was another three-star Grand Prix victory at the Al Shira’aa Boleworth International Show when Trevor Breen took gold on board the Heather Black-owned-and-bred Highland President, earning bragging rights over big brother Shane, who guided Scarteen (Breen Equestrian) to the silver ribbon.
The Cashel brothers were the only double clears from 40 entries. The jump-off course proved beyond seven other combinations, four of which went quicker than the 38.86 time set by the winners but you have to leave the fences intact.
Billy Twomey and Ace Of Hearts Z were among those to have one down, stopping the clock in 38.15 to secure fourth.
Highland President loves to jump however, which is why he has competed at the highest level for Ireland and ultimately secured the major honours.
Shane Sweetnam recorded a bronze rosette in the Welcome Stake on week four of the Traverse City Spring Series, piloting Pegina VD Bisschop (Sweetnam/Voquest) to two clear rounds in the Turtle Creek Casino International arena.
The duo excelled in the jump-off of the four-star class, being the first to produce an inside turn that gave them the lead but their time was ultimately bettered by Charlotte Bettendorf (LUX) and Kalliope, and then the last pair in, Roberto Teran Tafur (COL) aboard 18-year-old Dez’ Ooktoff, who took the spoils.
The Castlemagner native and his 11-year-old mare filled the same position in the Traverse City Grand Prix on Saturday night.
In what is going to become more and more frequent judging by results this year, Sweetnam was joined in the jump-off by his 18-year-old daughter Olivia, who represents USA.
Sweetnam Jnr and Epic posted four faults in the tiebreaker but that was still sufficient for a top-five finish. Shane, the world-ranked No 6 athlete, was faultless in a time of 36.14 to slot in behind American duo Charlotte Jacobs, with Korbach Van de Renger, and world No 1 Kent Farrington, with Greya.
