Daniel Coyle: "It Only Took 10 Years"

One decade. That’s how long Daniel Coyle has been chasing a Grand Prix win at Spruce Meadows.

But it only took eight hundredths of a second to claim it.

On Saturday, the Irish Olympian captured his maiden 5* Grand Prix victory at Spruce Meadows with the Queen Elizabeth II Cup aboard Incredible. They were one of three triple clear rounds on the day and stopped the clock at 35.21 seconds, narrowly edging ahead of Kyle King and Kayenne Z’s time of 35.29.

“It only took 10 years,” smiled Coyle of the win, noting that the feeling was, “Well, incredible.”

“I never have won [a 5* Grand Prix] on him either. He’s been close a lot of times, he’s jumped a lot of clear rounds in five-star Grand Prixs all over the world, but I haven’t been able to get over the line and he picked a great place to do it.”

Ten years may sound like a long time to pursue a goal. If you’re 30, like Coyle, it likely feels like a long time. One third of all your days on earth. But over the course of show jumper’s international career—one that routinely lasts five decades or more and tends to peak at middle age—ten years is a fractional metric.

That’s especially true on a front-loaded career like Coyle’s.

Since joining Lothlorien Farms in 2016, the Irishman has collected 30 Grand Prix titles. He’s won GPs coast to coast across the North America, from Wellington, Florida to Thermal, CA, and at every major venue in Canada, save Spruce Meadows. In the past three years, that streak has extended across the pond with 5* 1.60m Grand Prix wins in Rotterdam, London, Leipzig and Amsterdam.

It was ten years ago that Coyle made his senior Nations Cup debut at Thunderbird Show Park and jumped double clear.

In his first decade in top sport, he’s cracked the world top 15, made his first Olympic appearance where he was one of only three riders to jump clear in the first three rounds of competition, and finished top 12 individually at the 2021 European Championships (10th), 2024 Longines League of Nations Final (4th) and 2025 World Cup Final (12th).

Coyle has done all that and won a 5* Grand Prix at Spruce Meadows. And it only took 10 years.