Coyle Is King of $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix, Chadanos Is Two-Ring Threat, Copper Canyon Repeats at Saratoga Classic II
The Saratoga Classic II continued on Saturday, June 21, 2025, with the highlight classes of the week. In the $25,000 Saratoga Grand Prix, Christian Coyle won his fifth grand prix at Saratoga Horse Shows with the ever-speedy Ma Pomme de Tamerville. Junior rider Adriana Forte and Chadanos, owned by Heritage Farm, Inc., took the top prize in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Regional Championships. On Friday afternoon, June 20, Copper Canyon and Jennifer Jones repeated their win from the previous week in the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. Competition for the Saratoga Classic II concludes on Sunday, June 22.
With 11 in the jump-off and as the fastest of three double-clears, Christian Coyle notched his fifth grand prix victory in three years with the same horse at Saratoga Horse Shows. He and Ma Pomme de Tamerville, his trusty chestnut mare and partner of nearly three years, fended off Mimi Gochman on two of her three horses in the class.
Coyle was clear in 36.728 seconds, while Gochman and Iron Maiden, a 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Clarimo x Kashmir van’t Schuttershof owned by Rocking Basilisk Farms, LLC, were second in 37.282 seconds. She rode Lumiere BH, owned by Mimi Snow Spot Horse LLC to third in 39.346 seconds. Lumiere BH is a nine-year-old KWPN gelding by Akarad Hero Z x Darco.
Coyle went in the middle of 11 in the jump-off and was able to see Gochman ride her first horse over the shortened course, designed by Ken Krome. While he was “as quick and neat” as possible after the first line, he did have to add a stride in one line while Gochman left out a stride.
“My horse is naturally fast,” said Coyle. “She doesn’t spend a lot of time in the air, and she’s quick with her legs. She’s always going, and she kind of lands running. She was great there today.”
After riding “Pomme” for a year, Coyle purchased the mare himself. She has become a part of the family and has a place at his farm forever, even when she lets herself out of her stall and is found grazing in the garden. She isn’t a typical “chestnut mare” and is sweet, clever, and good with Coyle’s daughters, who stand on a ladder to feed her treats over the stall door.
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