LAKE PLACID, N.Y.--Jordan Coyle of Ireland on Ariso won the $100,000 FEI 3* Grand Prix of Lake Placid to conclude week 1 of the Lake Placid Horse Shows.
Jordan Coyle on Ariso (Photo by KindMedia)Coyle won over a starting field of 35 horses, nine of which made the jump-off over the course set by Nick Granat.
Six-time U.S. Olympic veteran McLain Ward on First Lady was the second to go in the jump-off, and he set the time to beat with a clean round in 41.80 seconds.
Ward’s lead held until Coyle returned on Ariso,who used the advantage of going late in the jump-off to shave six-tenths of a second off Ward's time, finishing clean in 41.23 for the win,
PIETER DE BRABANDERE of Belgium on Dothraki Warlord, clean in 42.15 seconds,, was third with Alex Matz on Viva Pleasure PS fourth in 42.46, and Ward on Le Louvre S, the only other clean in the jump-off, fifth in 43.52.
JJ Torano on Mr. Worldwide (Photo by KindMedia)“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. “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.”
Coyle was the Lake Palcid Leading FEI Jumper Rider.
Sunday morning featured two classes in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series.
In the first, JJ Torano rode Mr. Worldwide to win the $10,000, 1.35m SJHOF Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic, and then Jole Kosloske rode Crystal Claire to win over Torano on Vitus K in the $15,000, 1.45m SJHOF Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic.
