Former maths teacher, Jessica Burke secured her maiden five-star show jumping success at an exalted level, bagging the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup class in Bordeaux on Saturday with her rising star, Good Star du Bary.
It was a week in which the Coyle siblings, Jordan and Daniel, had a wonderful time in Florida, with the older brother scoring at five-star level in Wellington, while the new World No 9 was a dual winner, who narrowly missed out on replicating the Grand Prix double of the previous weekend, in Ocala.
But there was no question who stole the headlines from an Irish perspective, as Burke was the talk of the country following her stunning triumph over a world-class field in France.
The win moves her up to seventh on the Western European League table, which more or less assures her of a spot in the lucrative final in Fort Worth, next April.
To make things even better for the one-time teacher at Calsanctius College in Oranmore, her chief backer, Liam Nicholas was in attendance as he celebrated a major personal milestone, and the Gort native also had family in friends in attendance.
You could call it fate, but there is no escaping performance and Burke and the Nicholas-owned Good Star du Bary certainly delivered the perfect one.
The synchronicity between this pair has been evident as they developed through last year’s international programme especially and show jumping’s Galway Girl was coolness personified as the last athlete of only four combos to participate in the jump-off after the initial 13-obstacle test claimed a host of casualties.
Yann Royant’s decisive examination proved even stiffer. None of the first three pairs were equal to it and the standard to beat was a four-faulter on 35.72, with Daniel Deusser (GER ) in pole position with Otello de Guldenboom.
The 34-year-old Irish representative had a decision to make, and she went all-in on making sure of a faultless round. There wasn’t a moment’s doubt either as her French-bred 10-year-old grey lived up to his name, popping each obstacle perfectly to take the considerable spoils of €69,000 - and the possibility of so much more in a couple of months’ time.
The emotion was evident in her quivering delivering, as Burke articulately explained the significance of this occasion after she swapped the classroom for full-time show jumping a little more than seven years ago.
“It’s my first World Cup and my first five-star win,” she said on FEI TV afterwards.
“My horse is only ten, but he has just six World Cups now. Five times (he had ) one down, but today we were clear. To have patience and wait for your day to come is very hard, so the fact that it has come, I don’t think it has sunk in yet to be honest
“Bordeaux is a lucky place for me. I was here only once before two years ago and I won leading rider. This horse has been so close all the time. I was hoping for a top-five finish but I didn’t think I could win so I ‘m delighted.
“He’s the best horse I’ve ever ridden. I always knew he could do anything and he’s so special.
“His owner Liam, it’s his 60th birthday this weekend, he’s here with all his family. A lot of my family are here and my best friend from school years ago. It’s a bit emotional.
“I only have one horse at this level at the moment and when it’s one very good one, he makes my life very easy. In the warm-up he’s just relaxed and then he lights up with the crowd.”
