Edited press release from London International Horse Show 

The CSI5*-W 1.60m London Grand Prix provided a fitting conclusion to the 2023 edition of the London International Horse Show, featuring 29 of the world’s best horse-and-rider combinations. Shane Breen (IRL) and Cato Boy (Commissario x Böckmann’s Lord Pezi) were the first to jump clear over Guilherme Jorge’s testing 1.60m track, which required a combination of precision and agility. Dutch rider Jur Vrieling secured the jump-off jumping clear aboard Griffin van de Heffinck (Castelino van de Helle x Contact van de Heffinck), however it was Scott Brash (GBR) who delighted the home fans when he added his name to the list of riders heading through to face the shortened course with Hello Valentino (Diamantino x Careful).

Daniel Coyle (IRL), riding Legacy (Chippendale Z x Bon Ami) – the 13-year-old mare on which he was third in Sunday's FEI Jumping World CupTM – was the next to progress to the jump-off, with Britain’s reigning Olympic champion, Ben Maher adding to the home crowd's excitement with the fifth clear of the night aboard Ginger-Blue (Plot Blue x Royal Bravour). Additional clears came from 22-year-old French rider Jeanne Sadran, Switzerland’s Adrian Schmid and former London Grand Prix winner Marcus Ehning, bringing the total number of clears to eight.

Ireland’s Breen was the first to tackle the jump-off, which involved tight turns and long galloping distances, however accrued eight faults trying to set the pace required. Vrieling – a former World and European team gold medalist – showed how it should be done, making the turns and jumping double clear, but left the door ajar to anyone willing to risk taking less strides down to the final fence. 

An in-form Coyle did just that, scorching through the two fantastically tight turns incorporated into the jump-off which caught out his fellow riders, and knocking over two seconds off Vrieling’s time. Sunday’s FEI Jumping World Cup™ victor, Maher, had the crowd on the edge of their seats with a slick clear and nearly looked to have done enough, however his time of 34.90 seconds was 0.08 seconds slower than the Irishman, and put him into second place.

Last into the arena was Germany’s Ehning, who has competed at the show every year since 1998. Aboard Priam du Roset (Plot Blue x Tanael du Serein) Ehning rode a masterfully smooth round, however he was not able to challenge the leaders and his double clear in a time of 39.03 seconds put him in fourth behind Coyle in first, Maher in second and Vrieling in third.

A delighted Coyle said: “It is 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 is totally unbelievable, although I wish I had also won yesterday as well. I was hungry for the win coming into this competition so it is brilliant to have achieved it, Legacy was amazing – she deserved it.”

Speaking of his closest rivals, he continued: “These guys are pushing the limits. Ben had a great win yesterday and it was well deserved. Ben gave me a bit of a fright again tonight, as he is such a fast rider – he is an Olympic gold medalist after all. I am just delighted to be amongst these great riders and honoured to be riding with them. 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.”