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.

“She’s going nowhere,” he said. “She the best, and she will be my broodmare when she’s done showing.”

Through embryo transfer, Coyle has already started breeding her and is hoping to welcome a foal by Cumano, the world champion ridden by Jos Lansink. “She is well bred, but she's got the heart of a lion, and she's a real fighter,” he said of the 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare by Deauville Van T&L x Contendro II. “I'm thinking with Cumano, if you breed maybe a little bit more scope and a huge canter, if she could put the rest to it, then it would be awesome. I would be over the moon regardless, if I could get something.”

For Gochman, the Saratoga Classic II was a perfect way to become more familiar with her two new horses. She has ridden Lumiere BH for four months, and it was her first competition with Iron Maiden, who formerly jumped at the five-star level with Colombian Olympian Roberto Teran.

“That was a really exciting result for him,” she said of Iron Maiden. “We're just trying to get to know him. There are definitely some things that I need to work on, but I think that we have a good future ahead of us. I'm really excited.

“Lumiere has a really big stride, and I need to learn where and when I can leave out, but he was amazing,” she added. “He's very quick for such a big horse, and I have to figure him out a little bit more. He's very careful, and he tries very hard. I'm very excited for his future too.”

While Gochman showed often at Saratoga when she was young, this is her first time competing at the White Hollow Farm venue. “I think the facility is great. There was plenty of space, the footing is great, and there was plenty of room to flat,” she said. “I had a lovely time. I just got these two new horses, and I was trying to figure out a good place for them to get to know me, and for me to get to know them. I thought, ‘This is a perfect place. It's close to home, and the classes will be competitive.’ I thought it was a friendly first show for them, and they loved it.”

Coyle agreed, “It's a fantastic show. It feels family run and kind of laid back and chill, but it's organized. It’s a beautiful facility. It’s brilliant, and is definitely one of my favorites in the calendar, that's for sure.”

Chadanos and Forte Win International Hunter Derby Before Equitation Next Day

It was a big win for Adriana Forte and Chadanos, owned by trainer Andre Dignelli’s Heritage Farm, Inc., in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Regional Championships. They received scores of 180 and 193 for a total of 373 and a convincing victory. Iceman van de Nethe, ridden and owned by Cassandra Smith, finished second with scores of 160 and 170 for a 330 total. Clementina Brown and her own Camera Ready, who scored 169 in round one and 160 in round two for a 329 total, placed third.

Forte is in her final junior year and is well known in the equitation ring, having won the 2024 Washington International Horse Show Equitation Finals. She and Chadanos regularly compete in the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search, but have also branched out into hunter derbies, Green Conformation Hunters, and 1.15m Junior Jumpers.

Dignelli found “Chad” in Florida in November 2024 and saw his talent and potential for multiple show rings, although the horse was originally imported from Europe to be a hunter.

“Andre saw a vision,” said Forte. “Chad has that flashy jump for the equitation or the hunter ring. Andre saw that and has made him who he is today. I think he's going to keep growing with all the training at Heritage, and he's going to have a bright future.”

This was only the fourth hunter derby in which Chadanos has competed; Forte showed him in the USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Saratoga Spring II Show in May where they placed fourth, and they won their first hunter derby together at World Equestrian Center – Ocala this past winter. However, thanks to their equitation experience, Forte feels the young horse can excel in the handy rounds.

“The handy comes easier to him than some other horses, since he's used to all the turns and the tight spaces,” she explained. “Even though he is a big and young horse, he gets the hang of it pretty quickly.”

Forte is from Water Mill, NY, on Long Island and makes the nearly three-hour trek by “bus, train, or driving” to Heritage Farm in Katonah, NY, multiple times a week when not competing to practice and ride. Chad is one of her regular rides at home.

“He’s the sweetest animal, a gentle giant,” she said of the seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Chacfly PS. “He still acts kind of like a baby on the ground sometimes, just playful and all that. He's honestly the same at home and the show ring. Behavior-wise, for seven years old, and even when he was six when we first got him, he's never put a foot wrong.”

Copper Canyon Repeats National Hunter Derby Win

Out of a strong field of 33 entries and over two rounds, it was once again Copper Canyon, owned by Adele Einhorn, that rose to the top to take the win in the $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby with Jennifer Jones, repeating their victory in this class from the Saratoga Classic I. The pair were awarded a score of 92 in the first round and 97 in the handy round for a total of 189.

Coming in second were Sara Taylor and Never Better, owned by Anne Keesler, the combination that was also reserve champion in the Green Hunter 3’6” division to Copper Canyon. They also scored in the 90s both rounds with 90 and 94 for a total of 184. Keirstin Scott and Buffalo Bay, owned by Kimberly Witherspoon, were consistent across both rounds with scores of 91 for a 182 total and third place.

“I did pretty much all of the inside turns, just because the second and third riders were really close on points,” said Jones of her ride in the handy round. “Sometimes if you're on top, you're like, ‘Oh, I'm just going to go smooth.’ But second and third had gone so well that I had to do all of the options.”

At just eight years old, Copper Canyon, a Zangersheide gelding by Irish Wiskey Z x Nabab de Reve, is remarkably consistent in the show ring and maintains a competition demeanor of a horse that has had a busier horse show record. Jones attributes that to three years of producing him slowly and keeping him at the three-foot jumping level after he was imported from Europe in 2022.

“There was never any pressure to do more,” she explained. “We were so happy with him if that was all he ever did. This year we went to Florida and said we would try 3’6”, and he took it right in stride. I don't know if that would have been the case if we did that a year before.

“It's hard in this business, because there's a lot of pressure. Adele has been so patient with him, and it worked out to everyone's benefit because he was allowed as much time as he needed to physically and mentally be able to do what he does. He’s a very confident and made-up eight-year-old because of the time that he was allowed to get where he's gotten. She always wanted the best for him, and she's had a lot of enjoyment with him. I think it's a success story.”

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