Co Down’s Dermott Lennon has stormed to victory in today’s three-star 1m50 Grand Prix at Vilamoura in Portugal while Waterford’s Anthony Condon finished fourth. Lennon (pictured left) guided Rebecca Mcgoldrick’s 12-year-old mare Fleur IV (Chatman x Darco) to the fastest clear round (39.39) in a five horse jump-off to take the winners prize of €6,250. Former World Champion Lennon finished almost a second ahead of British runner-up Phillip Spivey with Darya I Nur (40.19), while Dutch rider Charlotte Verhagen took third spot third with Abache HL (40.25). Anthony Condon took fourth place for Ireland with Balzac after they produced one of four double clear rounds (40.42).
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Daniel jumping in Spring Tour 2015
Coyle has been in stunning form in both the Under 25 and senior classes in Florida since the Winter Equestrian Festival began back in January. He was one of eight riders to make it into today’s (Sunday) U25 Grand Prix jump-off and a double clear round in 39.94 seconds with the Susan Grange-owned Simba De La Roque, saw them take the winners prize of $16,500. They finished over a second ahead of Britain’s Jessica Mendoza riding Horst Van De Mispeleare, while American rider Shawn Cassidy took third place on the podium with Vanilla.
Co Derry’s Daniel Coyle continued his incredible recent run of form, by scoring a runner-up finish in the $216,000 four-star Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida in the early hours of this morning. Drawn second last to go in a five horse jump-off, Coyle guided Ariel and Susan Grange’s 11-year-old mare Cita to a clear round in 43.85 seconds against the clock. This left them just over a second behind Chilean winner Samuel Parot and Atlantis who crossed the line clear in 42.52, while Margie Engle (USA) and Royce finished third. Coyle began the WEF circuit riding Cita for the first time and won the $75,000 Rosenbaum Mollengarden Grand Prix in week one. The pair then spent the rest of the winter getting to know each other and developing their partnership. “Since the first Grand Prix here, I changed my ride a little bit on Cita,” Coyle
Congratulations to James Kernan acting High Performance Coach for Young Riders, COH,
Horse Sport Ireland are delighted to announce that James Kernan has taken up the position as interim Chef d’Equipe of the Irish Children, Junior and Young Rider Show Jumping teams. From Crossmaglen in County Armagh, James Kernan (pictured left), has a wealth of experience as a rider and trainer. He was crowned Junior European Show Jumping champion at Lucerne, Switzerland in 1974. He represented Ireland at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, finishing as the highest placed Irish rider with the stallion Touchdown, and together they were part of the winning Aga Khan team at Dublin Horse Show the same year. James was part of the famous Irish team that won the Aga Khan trophy three years in-a-row from 1977 to 1979 at the RDS in Dublin. see HSI website for more:
