He may have made it by the narrowest of margins, and he may only have an outside chance of finishing anywhere near the top, but 44-year-old Trevor Coyle from Armagh managed to rack up just five faults on his American-owned mare Fleur, to leave him 21st of the 28 international riders who qualify for Sunday's third and final leg of the FEI Show Jumping World Cup Final in Las Vegas.
Unlike some other competitions, qualifying riders in the final do not start on a scratch score, but carry their faults with them, so Trevor Coyle is entering the World Cup arena on Sunday carrying a substantial 18 penalties. Scoreboard leader, Swede Malin Baryard, by comparison, has zero penalties so far, and joint second-place holders Rodrigo Pessoa (BRA) and Marcus Ehning (GER) have just two penalties apiece.
In practical terms, this means that an awful lot of riders will have to make an awful lot of mistakes on Sunday if Trevor Coyle is to see himself within even shouting distance of his 1999 second place World Cup best on the Irish-bred Cruising.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
