Hanley also takes victory and podiums aplenty on international stageSpruce Meadows has been good to the Irish for many years and Amhrn na bhFiann got a couple of airings once more this week at the Calgary venues North American show, with Daniel Coyle in the winners enclosure once more and Tom Wachman also victorious at the five-star extravaganza.Cormac Hanley was a two-star winner in Ocala, while there were a plethora of podium finishes at four and three-star level for Irish athletes at international level in 1.45m classes and higher through the week.Wachman was the first five-star victor in Calgary, finishing first of 25 starters in the McNerney Cup on Friday night Irish time.Nine of the contestants survived the initial examination set by Santiago Varela (ESP) in the 1.45m class but it was Cashels Wachman (above) who produced the fastest fault-free definitive round with Hawaii (Gizmo Partners & Coolmore Showjumping), stopping the clock in 38.87 seconds to claim victory.Coyle was fourth with promising nine-year-old VDL Mourinho (Ariel Grange), who navigated the tiebreaker safely and accurately in 40.84.On Saturday, Coyle went really close to going back-to-back in the 1m ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Having won the it 12 months ago with Incredible, the Derry man saddled up Incredibles Lothlorien Farm stablemate Farrel (Ariel Grange) and they posted a super runner-up finish.The pair have been in fantastic form this year, including winning at Aachen and then on Canada Day at this venue, and they were only deprived the lucrative first prize by the sole double clear of the 40 protagonists, produced by Saudi Arabian Abdulrahman Alrajhi, with Ventago.The 1.60m Grand Prix test in the International Ring has a reputation for being amongst the most difficult in show jumping, and so it proved once more, with 14 obstacles and 17 jumping efforts around a 565m course and a time allowed of 85 seconds.Coyle and Farrel (above) stood up brilliantly to the questions asked, posting one of only six clear rounds from the 52 attempted, with the top 12 returning after the initial outing by a list of 40 pairs.Having recovered from an earlier stumble, Farrel knocked the first rail of the penultimate obstacle, a triple combination, in the opening excursion, but the natural speed of the 16-year-old placed him and his World No 18 navigator in third as best of the four-faulters on 79.35.In the second round, they ramped up the pressure on the remaining two athletes, both of which had gone clear, by recording a fantastic clear.Alrajhi and his 13-year-old gelding put Coyle and the other four-faulters out of their misery with a stunning clear of their own. When Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Corbie V.V. made one jumping error, victory was the Saudi riders, with Coyle earning the silver medal by virtue of his alacrity across the turf.Coyle is unaccustomed to leaving Calgary without winning a big class, however, and has enjoyed remarkable success there since crossing the Atlantic to join the Lothlorien team a decade ago.And he was on target once more on Sunday, guiding the 13-year-old mare Urville Z (Ariel Grange) to success in the Kubota Cup (above). Ten combinations advanced to the jump-off in the 1.50m competition and Coyle and Urville stopped the timers in 48.90 seconds to land the spoils. Conor Swail, who was first rider at Lothlorien when Ariel Granges late mother Sue was running the operation and served as a tremendous mentor to his young fellow Ulsterman, grabbed third with Casturano (Conall Murray) in a time of 50.82.Coyle concluded the top-flight competition at the North American with fourth on Calippo 57 (Ariel Grange) in the Sun Life Derby. There were only two clear rounds but Coyle and his talented 10-year-old had just one error, in a time of 137.23, to be fourth.The Ardmore man also guided the eight-year-old Nord Face VDL (Ariel Grange) to the silver medal in the two-star Grand Prix early in the morning, with a double clear.Meanwhile, the Longines Global Champions Tour moved to Monaco which like the Formula 1 Grand Prix that takes place on the streets of the city renowned for its superyachts, offers a tight track that is very technical.Denis Lynch has been plying his trade on the tour for a number of years now and the Tipperary native piloted Chicago (Parco Sport Horses) to a cool double clear to be fifth in a 1.50m jump-off class on Friday.Clearing 23 jumps in total, Lynch did not gun his 10-year-old in the tiebreaker, but with four combinations failing to replicate their opening blemish-free efforts, 39.03 got him into the top five. Victory went to Americas Kristen Vanderveen with Starbucks 27.There was agony for Mikey Pender, whose nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse that he bred, Madgeslane Louis (Pender Sport Horses), jumped magnificently but finished 0.38 outside the time allowed of 76 seconds and picked up one fault.Lynch improved by one position in the following days 1.45m speed cass on board Cordial (Onyx Consulting), going clear in 53.33, with victory going to Pieter Devos (BEL) and Jarina J.The Al Shiraaa Bolesworth International entered its second week with a four-star offering and another Derry native, David Simpson just missed out on winning Saturdays Grand Prix with his magnificent 11-year-old Pjotr van de Kruishoeve.The duo were recently runners-up in the Hickstead Derby, won in a jump-off by William Whitaker, and they were denied in this 1.55m class by the Englishmans first cousin, Jack Whitaker, who in conjunction with D&H Valmy de La Lande, went clear in the tiebreaker 41.64 compared to the Irish duos 42.55, to prevail.Billy Twomey and Ace Of Hearts Z also posted a double clear and finished fourth, in 43.56.It was the second strong result of the show for the Corkman and the 10-year-old he owns, having also performed well last week. They warmed up for the Grand Prix with a runner-up finish in Thursdays 1.50m Grand Prix Qualifier.With only four of the 47 partnerships progressing to the jump-off thanks to clear rounds, the Irish combo were quickest with a time of 39.43 in the tiebreaker but an little rub of a pole meant they had to settle for second, behind Holly Smith (GBR) and Nike van het Singraven and just ahead of Laura Kraut (USA) and Carquilara PS.Trevor Breen brought the week to a conclusion on Sunday when second in a 1.45m jump-off class, with his nine-year-old Crewmain Musachino (Drewmain Stud).Cormac Hanley guided Santiago Vh Netehof (Heathman Farm) to victory in a two-star Grand Prix qualifier (above) on Thursday night Irish time at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, on the fourth week of the Summer Series.Eight combinations that progressed to the jump-off under the Floridian sun went clear second time around but it was the Claremorris pilot and his exciting eight-year-old (below) that topped the poll with a time of 39.76.The duo almost completed a brilliant double, but just missed out on winning the Budweiser Grand Prix, placing second in the field of 26.There were plenty of podium finishes at three-star level in America. Traverse City Horse Shows put on the 12th edition of the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Williamsburg, and on Thursday night, another Cork athlete, Shane Sweetnam partnered Honey Heart to be third in the 1.45m Welcome Stake.They clocked 35.93 in the jump-off, which was won by World No 1 Kent Farrington (USA), with Diakatisa.On Friday, Kevin Gallagher bagged a bronze at Flintfields Horse Park. Francisco Goyoaga Mollet (ESP) and Queen Van Dorperheide set the winning time as first into the arena and though no one could match 67.45, not to mind better it, the Sligo rider and Casanova SP were quick enough to earn a major ribbon.At Tryon, Stephen Moore made the podium with a quick four faults in a jump-off for the three-star 1.50m Welcome Stake on Thursday, riding Pearl Gem VDM (Carol Sollak).And the Claregalway pilot returned with his consistent partner to claim the bronze rosette in the $120,000 Grand Prix. Only three combinations survived the initial test set by Andy Christiansen (USA) and only Jacueline Ruyle and H Cornetta DK were able to back that up. But the Irish duo, with four faults, still claimed a significant portion of the pot and maintained their recent positive form.On Wednesday, Galway man David OBriens faultless round with Coleccini (Andreas Kreuzer) earned him third in the two-phase class at Lake Placid. It was Christian Coyles turn to be third in the Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix Arena 24 hours later, the Derry athlete steering Chicago CM (Coyle & Round Hill Horses) to a double clear in a class where jumping proved the key, only 3 of 52 blemish free.Irish riders filled second and third on the podium in the Feldman Grand Prix at the I Love NY Horse Show on Saturday. Clares Philip McGuane was just over a half-second shy of the winning time set by Molly Ashe Cawley (USA) and Lorona, combining as he has done to good effect with Evergate Stables Paso Doble SCF to garner the $20,000 that went with being runner-up.New York-based Meath equestrian, Nicky Galligan and Jolly-Jessy (Blue Trim) were fastest of the four faulters to complete the podium.At the two-star show in Bonheiden, Tipperary rider, Max Wachman grabbed a third-place finish in a 1.45m speed class with Kannem J.A.Z. (Susan Magnier) on Thursday.BREEDINGMADGESLANE LOUIS (ISH) 2017 ch gelding by Luidam (KWPN) out of Madges Lane Karol (ISH) by Obos Quality 004 (OLDBG). Breeder: Michael Pender: Owner: Pender Sport Horses. Rider: Michael Pender (IRL)The post Coyle and Wachman thrive in Meadows appeared first on .