Swail on top of the world
Sweetnam breaks GP duck as McGuane and Chawke also win
North America was the place to be for Irish equestrians this week where Down man, Conor Swail moved to the top of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup rankings with a stunning victory in Toronto with Conall Murray’s Casturano, while there were three victories at three-star level too.
Pride of place in that regard went to Cork native Shane Sweetnam, who ended a frustrating run of second-place finishes to bag a belated maiden Grand Prix win of the year with Coriaan van Klapscheut.
Philip McGuane, from Clare, had raised the tricolour at the Florida venue earlier in the week My Lady van de Krekel while down in Santa Anita, Laois athlete, James Chawke was victorious with Daido van’t Ruytershof Z.
It was the five-star triumph of Swail that was the highlight, however, winning the $280,000 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup leg at the Royal Toronto Show.
Only three riders made it to the jump-off and the experience of the Darragh Cross man told as he and Casturano brought a sold-out crowd of more than 6,500 fans to their feet as the final athlete into the ring to beat off American duo Skylar Wireman (Barclino B) and Mimi Gochman (Inclen BH) with a lightning quick clear round of 41.24 seconds.
While the two Americans are only beginning their journeys in this arena at the age of 21, the 53-year-old Swail has been there, seen that and worn the t-shirt out in the wash.
Casturano knows the time of day too, having finished among the top 10 in three previous World Cup events.
The key moment in the tiebreaker was when Swail gave Casturano the office to stand off the large oxer and when they made they landed on the other side with the fence intact, they had the momentum from there to beat Wireman’s time.
“There was an opportunity there for me to go and win, and I do try to take opportunities when I see them. I really gave it my best shot, and thankfully today it really worked out.
“When he jumped (Fence 1), he was a little slow on the turn,” Swail explained in his debrief. “I saw a really big distance, and he didn’t really go for it in the beginning. (The jump) was getting further and further away. “He was very good to pick up there, but it actually got him going…The rest of the round he was really on the bridle and taking me to the jumps.”
Swail has his sights set firmly on a return to the World Cup Finals, set for Fort Worth (USA) in April 2026, and he now leads the North American league standings with 38 points, having supplanted his great friend Daniel Coyle in that position. The Derry man was unable to add to his strong results in Williamsburg and Washington.
“I plan on doing the World Cup Finals this year; I feel it’s a good fit for Casturano,” continued Swail. ”He has developed over the last couple of years at the five-star level and
“This year, I feel that Casturano is ready to do it,” Swail added. “He’s jumped at the five-star level for two years now, so I think that he can give it a good run. He’s an incredible athlete, and he jumps an awful lot of clear rounds, which is what you need to do at the finals… I think he’s ready to go to one of these championships with a very good chance of doing well.”
The pair had warmed up with a runner-up finish in the Strength & Speed Welcome Stakes on Wednesday night and while the home supporters were cheering the success of Erynn Ballard with Let’s Fly, who stopped the timers in 26.85 on the speed phase after registering a double clear, Swail would have been more than satisfied by the vibes he was getting from Casturano, who was quick without having to dig deep in 27.49.
McGuane and My Lady van de Krekel bagged first prize in the three-star 1.45m two-phase class in Wellington’s International Ring on Thursday night, and on Saturday, the pair were third in a speed class, won by Ashlee Bond with Night Wish, while Galwegian David O’Brien and El Balou Old finished seven-hundredths of a second in front of the Corofin athlete and his mare, to secure the silver medal.
But the show ended in a blaze of green, white and orange when Sweetnam and Coriaan van Klapscheut garnered the lion’s share of the prize money in a dramatic jump-off to decide the Grand Prix.
Forty-five pairings went through the pocket and the jump-off also included Clareman David Blake with Conblue, but they had a rail down and finished tenth
But finally this year, Sweetnam and Coriaan had the requisite speed to go with the jumping accuracy, stopping the clock on 44.5, which was 0.15 quicker than Rupert Carl Winklemann (GER) with Imodo, to land the spoils.
“My year has been about seconds. He was second in Devon (PA) and he was second in Aachen (Germany),” the Castlemagner pilot said of the nine-year old Belgian Warmblood. He had also also narrowly missed out on victory recently with the 12-year old Irish Sport Horse, James Kann Kruz – notably runners up in Tryon, Traverse City and the Hampton.
“It’s actually my first Grand Prix win this year so it’s nice to get it over the line,” said the 44-year old World No 16.
In Santa Anita, Abbeyleix rider, James Chawke and his ultra-reliable Daido van’t Ruytershof Z topped a field of 57 with as one-sided a win as you are ever likely to see in a speed class.
Proving a class apart in Friday morning’s 1.45m three-star competition, the pair prevailed by more than two and three-quarters of a second.
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