19 December '23
Fantastic weekend for Daniel Coyle and Legacy in London!
© The London International Horse Show
With The London International Horse Show, there was also a five-star show on the program on European soil in recent days. In the British capital it became once again a top show for the Irish rider Daniel Coyle and his 13-year-old mare Legacy, a daughter of Chippendale Z and Bon Ami who was born by breeder Romain Rotty as Chavantele Z. Coyle and Legacy performed strong during the CHI in Geneva the week before and continued that good shape last weekend with two true top rankings!
The first highlight for the successful duo came on Sunday during the The Longines FEI Jumping Word Cup. After a flawless basic round, they were one of the 11 combinations that managed to qualify for the jump-off. As the 7th combination at the start, they once again managed to ensure a clear round and a finishing time of 37.99 seconds gave them a 3rd place in the rankings.
Daniel Coyle: “This time of year for some reason my mare just seems to become a different animal, and if I can ride her correctly she usually jumps like she did today. I really wish sometimes she didn’t jump so high, you lose a bit of speed that way! Obviously to beat these guys you really have to nail it and there were a few places I maybe could have turned back tighter, but after I’d gone I felt like – if it wins great, and if it doesn’t its’s not meant to be!”
Save the best for last
But Coyle an Legacy saved the best part of the weekend for the Longines Grand Prix from last night. Once again they remained clear in the basic round and with that performance they were one of the 8 combinations that managed to secure a place in the jump-off. They entered the ring again as the 4th combination and with a fantastic round in 34.82 seconds they managed to add this CSI5* GP to their list of honors!
Daniel Coyle: “It’s amazing to have won The London Grand Prix tonight and I did it for everyone in my team. I could not have done it without them behind me. It’s totally unbelievavle, although I wish I had also won on Sunday as well. I was hungry for the win coming into this competition so it’s brilliant to have achieved it. Legacy was amazing, she deserved it.”
Another striking combination in London was the Swiss rider Martin Fuchs with the 9-year-old chestnut stallion Viper Z, a son of Vigo d'Arsouilles and Grannus who was bred in Germany by Guido Sperveslage and with whom Fuchs also won classes in Helsinki and Verona in recent weeks. Fuchs and Viper Z jumped to a nice 4th place on Saturday during the 1.50m class and yesterday during the final day they managed to achieve a 2nd place during the 1.45m high speed class.
Finally, we also saw 2 Zangersheide horses in the top of the ranking during the 1.50m class on Friday. There was a 5th place for the Swedish rider Peder Fredricson with the 9-year-old stallion Vroom de la Pomme Z (Vigo d'Arsouilles x Untouchable – B: Geert Baertsoen) and a 6th place for the Irish rider Conor Swail with the 10- year-old grey mare Calciet EB Z (Cornet Obolensky x Berlin – B: LVP Stables).