
Daniel Coyle wins $1m Atco Queen Elizabeth Cup at Spruce Meadows
Irish riders have been in impressive form over the past few weeks at the Canadian venue, dominating the winners circle, with Coyle's massive Atco Cup win - the final Grand Prix of the Spruce Meadows summer season, crowning the Irish domination.
After two demanding rounds of jumping, four combinations went forward to the third round jump-off where Coyle posted what proved the winning clear in 35.21 seconds. America's Kyle King finished eight hundredths of a second behind Coyle to take runner-up spot aboard Kayenne Z (35.29), while Daniel Coyle's older brother Jordan Coyle finished third with Chaccolino in 35.86.
A delighted Coyle explained how narrowly missing out on victory last weekend gave him an extra incentive and on how his horses improve at every level during the Spruce Meadows Summer Tournament.
"I wasn't sure how today would go to be honest. He was second last week which probably gave me a wee bit more of a spur on to try and get it over the line.
"I like to come here for the summer because every horse gets a little better, even the horses at the top of the game. But not only that, we also have some six, some seven year-olds here, and, they are the future, so we have to bring them along as well."
In the earlier Akita Drilling Cup 1m50, Jordan Coyle came out on top with For Gold, adding to a string of wins for the Derry rider in recent weeks, while there was also an Irish win in the Moore Equine Cup for Offaly's Darragh Kenny aboard Colibelle Hero Z.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Irish Sun
43 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
GAA president Jarlath Burns aims brutal jibe at split-season critics in programme notes for All-Ireland semi
GAA president Jarlath Burns defended the GAA's decision of scheduling a split-season and challenged critics of the decision. In the programme notes of 3 Burns also spoke about the split-season at the launch of the All-Ireland SHC 3 Maurice Brosnan spotted the interesting takes from the GAA president and shared them on X Credit: @m_brosnan 3 Burns also shared some of the GAA's 'biggest highs' in his programme notes Credit: @m_brosnan Some fans, pundits, players and managers alike have criticised the current GAA calendar. However the Association's president believes the current calendar is best placed to suit both club and inter-county players. He said: 'Our schedule and our season do not suit some vested interests who would prefer the inter-county calendar to dominate with no regard at all for your clubs who supply 100% of our players. "We've made some hard choices on the structure of our season. It is significantly shorter, but the games have not suffered. "The players at county level enjoy the system, and our club players have a structure and certainty that they crave. Read more on GAA The president's address seems to contradict a The former Armagh captain said: "I'm certainly open to the first and third weeks in August from 2027 on." With Croke Park's schedule for summer 2026 already being finalised, there will be no space for All-Ireland finals next August. But Burns claimed he would be interested in future seasons having finals in August. However his programme notes in yesterday's programme suggests otherwise, as he comes across very defensive of the GAA scheduling. Most read in GAA Football In the notes he also addresses criticisms of the thrilling The 1999 Ulster championship winner added: "I can accept that using penalties to decide this year's epic Munster final was a jolt and not to everyone's satisfaction. RTE pundits weigh in on scoreboard controversy that marred Tipperary's dramatic win over Kilkenny "But here's the thing, a replay would have seen the loser have to play three weeks in-a-row or if a window was created for replays, the winner could have been idle for five weeks. "The GAA decided that this scenario was not desirable - even though a replay would have been worth a significant return in gate receipts. "But again, that doesn't suit the narrative that the GAA is only interested in money. "Some people have an issue with how the GAA conducts it's affairs, and that is their right in a democratic organisation. "But no one as of yet has offered a solution to how we might conduct our business in a competitive environment with limited resources. "And how we are able to run the Association and ensure that Gaelic games retains it pre-eminent place in Irish life. His statement on the penalty shoot-out debate also contradicts the speech he made just a month previous. Burnes stated: 'You don't have to talk to me above anybody else about replays and provincial finals. "We've (Armagh) lost three now, two quarter-finals, on penalties. I would be very much in favour of replays where at all possible."


Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Why Tipperary's scoreboard tally doesn't matter and what else we learned from the GAA weekend
The controversy over the scoreboards at Croke Park on Sunday recalled memories of a previous All-Ireland hurling semi-final, the 1998 replay between Clare and Offaly . It was abruptly ended with Clare ahead by three but referee Jimmy Cooney ended the match two minutes prematurely, treated as an abandonment, which triggered a re-fixture in accordance with the rule book. Offaly ended up winning the next day out, as well as that year's All-Ireland final. When it comes to refixing a match for erroneously awarded or disallowed scores, the rules are quite specific – it can't be done. This was tested early in the existence of the Disputes Resolution Authority, the GAA's independent arbitration tribunal. The position on refereeing error is rather clear since the 2005 determination by the DRA. READ MORE A football match in Limerick that year between Fr Casey's and St Senan's gave rise to a challenge from the former, based on a refereeing error in respect of a score. The ruling laid it out plainly: 'If Fr Casey's are correct that there was a mistake in this case and that it changed the outcome of the game, then one must have sympathy for them. However, even if they are right on both of these issues, this cannot allow for an erosion of the principle of referees' control. Tipperary's Noel McGrath after his 70th-minute effort, mistakenly recorded as a point on the scoreboards at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho 'How an error at any particular stage in a game will affect the outcome is something of an imponderable, and the fact that injustice will occasionally result from a blanket protection of referees' decisions is a consequence that must be borne by all. It is the lesser evil.' The only exception is if 'a referee is shown to have had an improper motive amounting to a corruption of his role as an impartial arbiter of fact and rule'. There have been scoreboard errors more recently. Just two years ago the display recorded that Carlow had beaten Offaly by 2-29 to 1-31 in the Joe McDonagh Cup final. The correct score was 2-30 to 1-32 but this did not affect outcome. In 2016, Meath were actually awarded the Christy Ring Cup after their final score, 2-17 to Antrim's 1-20, had been incorrectly recorded as 2-18 to 1-20. After consultations with the GAA management committee, Meath reluctantly agreed to a re-fixture, saying in a statement: 'Asking us to replay a game that we firmly believe we won last Saturday is very disappointing.' However, the county won the re-fixture 4-21 to 5-17. Sunday's issue was not so much the validity of a score – Noel McGrath's phantom 'point' in the 70th minute – but the effect on Kilkenny of believing they were now chasing a four-point rather than a three-point deficit. Green-eyed Tipperary When Liam Cahill took over as Tipperary manager three years ago, scoring goals was high on his manifesto. In his successful years with age-grade teams in Tipp and during his time in Waterford, it had been a discernible pattern. When Tipp's under-20s won the 2019 All-Ireland final under Cahill, they blistered Cork with four goals in the opening eight minutes. Four years later, in his first championship match as senior manager against Clare, Tipp scored five. 'I think from an entertainment point of view too, I think it's nice that you have games with goals in them,' said Cahill on that glorious day in Ennis. 'Spectators need that. While it's lovely to watch fellas picking off points from 70 or 80 yards it can become a bit monotonous at times. We practice it. I won't tell you any different, we do practice it.' In Tipp's next game against Cork, they scored two goals, but then their goalscoring fell off a cliff. In their next seven championship matches, they scored a combined total of just three, including four blanks. Darragh McCarthy celebrates scoring Tipperary's second goal against Kilkenny. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho The storming resurgence in Tipp's form this year has coincided with the rediscovery of their goal touch. The two goals they scored against Limerick were they first they had scored against those opponents during Cahill's time in charge, and if you omit the Cork game – where they played with 14 men for 70 minutes – they have averaged nearly three goals a game. On Sunday, they clearly targeted the Kilkenny full-back line and went for goals from the start. In the first half alone, they created six goalscoring opportunities and converted three. In contrast, Kilkenny failed to score a goal for the first time since round two of last year's Leinster championship. 'When you concede four and you know if I was asked before the game if we hit 30 points I would have said we wouldn't have been too far off,' said Derek Lyng after the game. On Sunday, nothing mattered more than goals. – Denis Walsh Righ t man for t he job Wherever the Dublin hurlers go from here, it feels certain they have the right man to lead them. That might sound like an overly generous assessment of Niall Ó Ceallacháin when his team has just shipped a 20-point beating in an All-Ireland semi-final but you'll spend a long time looking if you're trying to find a Dublin hurling supporter with misgivings. Ó Ceallacháin didn't put a tooth in it afterwards on Saturday night. He rattled off the three competitions Dublin entered in 2025 and was up front about the fact that they didn't make the final of any of them. They came third in Division 1B, which saw Offaly and Waterford promoted to 1A. They lost to Kilkenny and Galway in Leinster and so didn't make their provincial final. They were wiped on Saturday. Niall Ó Ceallacháin after Dublin's semi-final defeat to Cork. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho Of the three, walking face first into the Cork windmill was clearly the most forgivable. How a team can fail to get out of 1B in the spring before beating Limerick in the summer is a bewildering show of inconsistency. And yet, a familiar one. Job number one for Ó Ceallacháin in 2026 will be eradicating that tendency towards hot-and-cold performances. He's not the first Dublin manager to have that at the top of his to-do list. He does at least have the innate steadiness to suggest a future that is about more than one-off big days. – Malachy Clerkin Reid's s t ill go t i t TJ Reid was the last player to leave the pitch at Croke Park on Sunday. After his Kilkenny team-mates had shuffled down the tunnel, Reid remained on the pitch with his daughter, Harper. Wearing Ronan Maher's Tipp jersey turned inside out, having swapped at the final whistle, Reid spent several minutes playing with Harper and walking around the pitch with her in tow. He's 37 now and the end of Kilkenny's season will naturally raise questions as to whether we will see Reid back in black and amber in 2026. His legacy as one of the greatest players of all time is already guaranteed and again on Sunday he raged against the dying of the light. Kilkenny's TJ Reid with his daughter Harper after the semi-final defeat to Tipperary. Photograph: Tom O'Hanlon/Inpho It was Reid who won possession from Paddy Deegan's hit-and-hope boomer down the field in the final moments of the game. Reid came out from a forest of bodies with the ball, shimmied away from some Tipperary tackles and offloaded to John Donnelly, creating what appeared to be a match-saving goal chance only for Donnelly's shot to be saved on the line. Reid's accuracy from placed balls was also a significant factor in Kilkenny amassing 0-30 – he finished the game with over a third of their scores, 0-11 (eight frees and one 65). His long distance free-taking was superb. So, there seems little doubt Reid – who made his Kilkenny senior debut in 2007 – could still operate at the highest level next year if he so chooses, but, as with all players, there are many other factors to be considered. Whatever way it plays out, it has been a pleasure to see him in full flight. – Gordon Manning Fu t ure focus Tyrone's production line rolls on, showing the sort of alacrity and can-do spirit that would make some Chinese factories look like havens for layabouts. Sunday's All-Ireland minor final victory over Kerry means they've done the underage double in 2025, having tidied away the under-20 title in May. Scroll back through history and you'll find this is only the sixth time the minor and under-20/21 double has been done. Kerry did it in 1975, Cork in '81, Tyrone themselves in 2001, Dublin in 2012, and Cork again in 2019 were the others. Take out the most recent Cork one and you're looking at the launch pads for all four counties' greatest football eras. Those doubles didn't guarantee senior success but they fairly added to the tide. Tyrone's Peter Colton celebrates after scoring a goal for Tyrone against Kerry in Newbridge on Sunday. Photograph: Tom Maher/Inpho It's Tyrone's fifth All-Ireland minor title since the turn of the century, allied to their sixth under-20/21 crown. Omagh CBS have won two of the last three Hogan Cups as well. Throw in last year's Sigerson Cup win for Ulster University, which featured nine Tyrone players in the final, and it's clear that Malachy O'Rourke isn't going to run short of options any time soon. All that's left for them in 2025 is for the senior team to get past Kerry on Saturday and then see off either Donegal or Meath in the final. Simple! If they somehow manage to pull it off, it would only be the second time in history that any county has completed the treble in one year. You have to go back 50 years for the other one – Kerry in 1975. Those lads did all right, you might recall. – Malachy Clerkin


RTÉ News
2 hours ago
- RTÉ News
On This Week: Ryanair launches its first ever route
This Week In Irish News Ryanair launched its first scheduled service with a flight from Waterford to London Gatwick Airport. It was the first route launched by the company and was a daily service. It also marked the first international scheduled air service from Waterford, making it Ireland's fourth international airport. 2010: The case of the kidnapped penguin from Dublin Zoo A penguin was stolen from Dublin Zoo and was later found at Rutland Street. Kelli, a 10-year-old female penguin, was captured at 8:30am before the zoo opened. She was later found and returned by Gardai from Store Street. Kelli was returned to the penguin habitat after a vet inspection found she had no injuries. This Week In Irish Sports The first two stages of the iconic cycling race, the Tour de France, took place in Ireland. The 85th edition saw the first stage held in counties Wicklow and Dublin, where it finished in Phoenix Park. The stage winner was Tom Steels from Belgium. The second stage began in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, and ended in Cork, with Svorada Ján from the Czech Republic crossing the finish line first. 2022: Westmeath win the inaugural Tailteann Cup A late goal from Kieran Martin capped a dramatic comeback that helped Westmeath secure the inaugural Tailteann Cup title. Three points down when approaching the hour mark, Westmeath scored 1-04 to beat the tournament favourites Cavan and secure the title. The final score was Cavan 1-13 Westmeath 2-14. This Week In Irish Entertainment 2005: 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' begins shooting in Cork Bandon in Co Cork was transformed for Ken Loach's film 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'. The movie, which starred Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham, and Orla Fitzgerald, was set during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. Loach, known for his realistic portrayal of working-class heroes, said the movie tackled the thorny subject of Irish nationalism. 2015: Coláiste Lurgan release as Gaeilge cover of Cheerleader Coláiste Lurgan released another as Gaeilge cover over the summer, OMI's chart-topping hit, Cheerleader, which received over 2.7 million views. The summer school, based in the Connemara Gaeltacht village of Inverin, had released cover versions of hit songs as Gaeilge; its first one was a cover of Avicii's Wake Me Up in 2013. The school has given other famous hits an Irish spin, such as Adele's 'Hello' and Hozier's 'Take Me to Church.' This Week In Irish Culture 1998: Carnival marks Dublin's 1,000th birthday Dublin city marked its 1,000th birthday with a weekend-long street carnival. Lord Mayor of Dublin Ben Briscoe launched the massive Dublin Street Carnival, which began with a parade of over 200 performers in full costume, led by the New Jersey Emerald Pipe Band. Over the weekend, hundreds of events took place, featuring entertainers, musicians, clowns, and jugglers performing around Dublin city centre. What was Number 1 in Ireland This Week? 1970: 'In The Summertime' by Mungo Jerry The British rock band sold 30 million copies of the song, which celebrates the carefree days of summer. 1991: '(Everything I Do) I Do It for You' by Bryan Adams Written for the film 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', the power ballet reached number one in over 19 countries. 2001: 'Lady Marmalade' by Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mýa & Pink Originally a hit in 1974 from US funk rock group LaBelle, Lady Marmalade hit number one again as a cover for the musical film 'Moulin Rouge'. Irish Celebrities Celebrating Birthdays This Week Eve Hewson (34) Actor best known for Bad Sisters, and The Perfect Couple Robbie Keane (45) Former footballer who is the record scorer for The Republic of Ireland Imelda May (51) Signer, songwriter and TV presenter who has released six albums over her career Other Irish Trivia From This Week 1989: When the Harlem Globetrotters visited Dublin The Harlem Globetrotters, a US exhibition basketball team, came to Ireland to showcase their skills. The team was playing against arch-rivals The Washington Generals at Neptune Stadium in Cork. Before they arrived, members of the team - Quentin Jones, Memphis Douglas and Tyrone 'Hollywood' Brown - took the time to meet and greet children who were part of the Aer Lingus Sports Club at Dublin Airport. They demonstrated their skills for the young Irish players and taught them a few tricks in the process. Looking Ahead Each Monday, On This Week will bring you a mix of stories from the last 75 years, to celebrate Volkswagen's 75 year anniversary, featuring the big news stories, sporting highlights and major pop culture moments. Volkswagen has been part of those unforgettable moments - driving families to milestones, memories, and moments that matter. Join us every week as we look back at the moments of yesteryear.