Swail second in $375,000 Pan American Cup while Irish students bag three silvers at World Championships

Co Down’s Conor Swail continued his superb recent run of form in North America, with a runner-up finish in Saturday evening’s $375,000 Pan American Cup at Spruce Meadows in Canada.

Swail had last month claimed the top prize in the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix at the same venue riding Martha Louise and this time he partnered the 10-year-old stallion Grafton to second spot on the podium.

Seven combinations had made it through to the second round jump-off, where Swail’s clear in a time of 36.17 seconds was only bettered by American World No.6 Kent Farrington riding Gazelle.

The competition also saw an Irish bred horse feature in the prizes, with Sumas Zorro, who was bred by Susan Lanigan-O’Keeffe in Co. Kilkenny, finishing in sixth place with Egyptian rider Sameh EL Dahan.

Meanwhile Irish riders have won a team and two individual silver medals at the World University Equestrian Championships in Sweden. UUJ’s Tori Dixon, UCD’s Ian Cassells and Kelley Hutchinson (UUIM) finished second in the combined team event. Ian Cassells also took silver in Dressage along with another silver for Kelley Hutchinson in the overall combined competition.

The team competition saw the Irish finish just one point behind the gold medal winners Sweden on their home soil, while Japan took third spot on the podium.