Jordan Coyle of Ireland rode Ariso to victory in the $100,000 FEI 3* Grand Prix of Lake Placid to conclude Week 1 of the Lake Placid Horse Shows (LPHS), Sponsored by The Bainbridge Companies and Presented by Sea Shore Stables. Coyle topped a field of 35 horses at the North Elba Showgrounds, home to two weeks of world-class competition, sanctioned by the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) and International Equestrian Federation (FEI), running June 23-July 5.
Coyle was one of nine entries to reach the jump-off by going clean over the 16-effort, first-round course designed by Nick Granat. Six-time U.S. Olympic veteran McLain Ward 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, owned by Robin Parsky.
Ward’s lead held until Coyle returned on Ariso, a 15-year-old Swedish Warmblood owned by Elan Farm. The winning combination of Friday’s $45,000 Wölffer Estate 3* Jump-off, they turned in what proved to be the winning ride, finishing clean in 41.23 seconds. Ward’s time held up for second, with third going to Pieter De Brabandere of Belgium, who finished clean in 42.15 seconds on Dothraki Warlord, owned by Maarten Huygens.
“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,” Coyle said of his longtime partner. “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.”
Following an off-day on Monday, the I Love New York Horse Show starts on Tuesday and runs through Sunday, July 5. Highlights include Wednesday’s $5,000 CSI3* Two-Phase presented by North Star Equine Sports Medicine, Thursday’s $45,000 CSI3* Welcome Stake presented by Brianne Goutal LLC, Friday’s $32,000 CSI3* Speed Derby presented by Purina Animal Nutrition and $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby presented by Perfect Products, and Saturday’s The Clothes Horse Parade of Champions leading up to the main event, the $100,000 CSI3* Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix presented by Friends of the Lake Placid Horse Shows. More hunter and jumper classics also take place on Sunday, including the $25,000 Knockers Field 1.45m Jumper Classic presented by the Postage Stamp Farm Foundation.
Results here.
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