Daniel Coyle won the $32,000 Opener CSI5* on the opening day of the RBC Ottawa International show jumping tournament at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, Ontario, on Thursday.
A total of 26 competitors entered the class. Having successfully jumped the first phase of the course, Coyle turned on the speed to navigate the second phase of the course in a time of 29.52 seconds riding Farrel.
It would prove to be good enough for the win, with Canada’s Erynn Ballard settling for second in 30.41 seconds riding Her Game Ball BG.
McLain Ward of the United States, currently ranked number eight in the world, rounded out the top three with a time of 30.49 seconds riding Snapchat van de Broekkant Z, a nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding.
“Very peculiar horse”
Coyle’s winning partner was Farrel, purchased at the VDL Auction in Wellington, Florida, as a seven-year-old.
“He’s had a very peculiar career,” said Coyle of the Dutch Warmblood gelding. “He was my top horse as a nine-year-old and then Covid hit, and he had some time off. He grew a cyst in his stifle and they said he’d never jump again, but Ariel came in with some magic and said we’ll give him another chance. He owes none of us anything but if you see him going into the arena, he’s so fired up. He’s been my top horse before and now he’s 15 years old and he’s still one of our top horses. It’s a really special story.”
Currently ranked ninth in the world, Coyle was back on Canadian soil after competing with different horses at CSIO5* Dublin the previous weekend.
