Ocala, Florida, USA – February 15, 2024 – Sunny skies set a beautiful stage for the featured jumper event Thursday morning at the fifth week of the Hits Ocala Winter Circuit. The $25,000 Alliant Private Client Cup is a weekly occurrence throughout the ten-week long festival and offers jumper riders a great way to get into the Grand Prix ring and get some prize money prior to Saturday’s main event. Piloting six of the original 28 combinations, Ireland’s Jordan Coyle (IRL) gave himself a strong upper hand to take the winning title, and he did so aboard King Kannan GP.
Philipp Schwender (GER) built a proper track for his field and managed to advance 11 of the first round’s field into the jump-off. Coyle jumped clear on four of six mounts he had entered which left him with a very busy jump off to prepare for.
“It’s always frustrating for me when someone holds the class up with a lot of horses,” Coyle admitted. “So we tried to do a good job of getting through them quickly.”
The victory came down to a battle between Coyle and last week’s winners, Samuel Pegg (CAN) and Gin Tonic 158, as the only two pairs to clock in a fault-free effort under 40 seconds.
Hot on the heels of an impressive podium finish during the $385,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix CSI 5* in Wellington, Florida last Saturday, Coyle continued on his hot streak to ultimately produce the winning time of 38.55 seconds with Elan Farm’s nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Kannan).
“I feel like I’m very lucky at the moment because I have some very exciting horses,” he explained. “Each horse on my string has its own plan, even if they are similar, so I was under a bit of pressure to keep it moving smoothly but I think it worked out. I have ridden so many different horses and ponies since I could walk, that having this many in a class like this doesn’t really affect me. Physically, maybe, but not mentally.”
Pegg settled for second place with his own 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Graftop), landing just over a second slower than Coyle with a time of 39.609 seconds.
Coyle picked up three more ribbons over the course of the prizegiving as he raced into third place with Falkirk Farm’s nine-year-old Royal Dutch Sport Horse – Dutch Warmblood (KWPN) mare, Keep Me With You N.C., and also rode to the ninth and tenth place honors.
Final Results – $25,000 Alliant Private Client Cup
1) Jordan Coyle (IRL) & King Kannan GP – 0 / 0 –38.550
2) Sam Pegg (CAN) & Gin Tonic 158 – 0 / 0 – 39.609
3) Jordan Coyle (IRL) & Keep Me With You N.C. – 0 / 0 – 41.040
Source: Press Release from Hits Horse Shows
Photos: © Hits Shows / ESI Photography
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Categories: CSN, English, Jumper News Ireland
