December 19, 2023 
The red-hot Irishman closed out his year with a win in the British capital.
These days, you won’t find a lot of show jumping fans willing to bet against Daniel Coyle in a jump-off. Case in point: his performance on Monday night in the final class of the London International Horse Show, where Coyle bested an impressive field of 29 competitors in the CSI5* 1.60m London Grand Prix.
Only eight combinations jumped clear on Guilherme Jorge’s (BRA) testing, first-round track. In the second round, Dutch rider Jur Vrieling became the clear-round pathfinder, stopping the clock at 37.18 seconds with the 11-year-old SBS mare Griffin van de Heffinck—which would ultimately be good for third place.
Additional combinations Adrian Schmid (SUI) and Chicharito 11 and Marcus Ehning (GER) and Priam du Roset also earned double-clears, as did hometown hero and yesterday’s FEI Jumping World Cup™ London victor Ben Maher aboard Ginger Blue (see full results here). Though the British rider and the 12-year-old KWPN mare stopped the clock at a very close 34.90 seconds, he and the rest of the field failed to catch the 34.82-second time set by Coyle and co-owner Ariel Grange’s 13-year-old Zangersheide mare, who made two tight turns and did one less stride than Vrieling to the final fence.
“These guys are pushing the limits. Ben had a great win yesterday and it was well deserved. [He] gave me a bit of a fright again tonight, as he is such a fast rider—he is an Olympic gold medalist after all,” said Coyle. “I am just delighted to be amongst these great riders and honored to be riding with them.”
The 29-year-old went on to say that this particular win was a bit of a full-circle moment for him.
“We always watched the London International Horse Show whilst growing up at home; my brother is also a rider, so it is amazing to be competing here, let alone winning. This show contains a huge amount of history and it is great to be a part of it.”
This marks the 40th podium and 18th win of 2023 for Coyle, who—after shooting from near obscurity to the top-15 in the world in less than eight years—is cresting the most lucrative season of his career according to Jumpr App. In 2022, his best year to date, he earned a total of €736,459; this year, he’s sitting on a cool €788,151—before his London paycheck.
To be sure, Coyle’s position as rider for top Canadian show jumping stables Lothlorien doesn’t hurt. But fair credit can also be laid at the feet of his take-no-prisoners, competitive mentality. How competitive? How about still lamenting yesterday’s third place (€25,500.00) World Cup finish on the same day he’s celebrating a 1st place (€31,250.00) finish in the London Grand Prix.
“It is totally unbelievable, although I wish I had also won yesterday as well,” said Coyle, who gave due credit to his team for the victory. “I was hungry for the win coming into this competition, so it is brilliant to have achieved it. Legacy was amazing—she deserved it.”
The good news for Coyle? Even when he’s not quite winning, he’s improving. And, after yet another career-high season, 2024 is looking very bright indeed.
