Sweetnam goes close in Kentucky GP as Swail is on the victory trail

Conor Swail was a five-star winner in Lexington during the week, while also posting third- and fourth-place finishes on the Split Rock Tour, where Darragh Kenny and Simon McCarthy secured silver medals.

Shane Sweetnam went close to topping all that though, when runner-up in the in the $400,000 Grand Prix at Kentucky International on Saturday night.

Sweetnam continued the stunning form of the Irish at the five-star show, combining with the Patrick Connolly-bred, James Kann Cruz (ISH) for a brilliant double clear (photographed above courtesy of Split Rock Tour).

There were 40 participants in the 1.60m class, nine of which made it to the jump-off. Three of those were Irish, with Swail coming in eighth with Casturano, and Darragh Kenny seventh, with Eddy Blue.

Only a quartet managed double clears and though Sweetnam and his 12-year-old Olympic partner were quick in navigating the tie-breaker in 45 seconds, American Kent Farrington executed a sharp turn to the oxer on Greya that proved a game-changer, giving them more than two seconds in hand of the Castlemagner native and his Gizmo Partners-owned gelding.

“I knew when (Farrington) had gone that he had set the target and that I would have to do everything to catch him,” Sweetnam said. “For me, I didn’t feel I was quick enough at the start, and then I was quicker towards the end. I could have been faster at the start, but my horse jumped great. I’m very happy with him.

“He’s always a work in progress; he’s got a lot of character and likes to do things his way. He always has,” Sweetnam said of James Kann Cruz. “We have a good system at the moment and have had good results this year… he likes a crowd and likes to show off, and he’s in a good place, but he’s always a work in progress. He likes to throw spanners in the works, but he’s worth the work.”

Swail heralded the raising of the Tricolour on Wednesday, emerging triumphant from a hotly contested five-star two-phase class at the former World Equestrian Games venue with My Lady Lavista (photographed below courtesy of Split Rock Tour).

The Darragh Cross legend and the high-performing 11-year-old mare beat off 87 other rivals to secure top prize.

After navigating the first phase clear, Swail asked his partner for maximum effort and as ever, she answered the call to stop the clock at 29.19. It needed something significant to prevail as it was the red-hot Luis Fernando Larrazabal (VEN) who was the closest pursuer, having won four straight feature FEI contests at Wellington the previous week.

On this occasion, Larrazabal was riding Belle De Muze, who helped provide two of those aforementioned victories, but they were just under three-tenths of a second in arrears of the Irish winners.

Kenny and Lightning just missed out on the podium, but fourth was an excellent result early in the week.

The Offaly native filled the silver medal position at the Lexington venue 24 hours later, guiding Eddy Blue to a magnificent double clear in the $75,000 five-star Grand Prix Qualifier. The duo had no issues with the 1.50m test but Aaron Vale and Gray’s Inn were on a different planet in the jump-off, streaking to a 35.09 time, which was more than 1.6 seconds faster than their nearest rivals.

Swail was competitive once more but this time had to make do with fourth-, combining with Casturano for a measured double clear.

The Downpatrick athlete was back on the podium on Friday night, steering My Lady Lavista to third in the five-star speed class. They registered a time of 62.42 seconds in the 1.45m contest and had Corkman, Simon McCarthy with Gotcha ahead of them, on a time of 61 flat.

There was no arguing with the winner, though, as Alex Matz (USA) and Cashew CR were comfortable winners, stopping the clock on 58.21.

Back in Europe, Mikey Pender will have been delighted with the endeavours of HHS Cyprus (ISH) in securing fourth in the five-star 1.50m speed event at Fontainebleau on Saturday.

The Castledermot athlete finished ahead of some of the cream of the global game, steering the exciting nine-year-old bred in Kilkenny by Marion Hughes to a clear round in 63.08 seconds. Victory went to Italian Emanuele Gaudiano and Vasco 118.

On Sunday at the French arena, Wexfordian Bertram Allen finished in the top five of the Grand Prix with Qonquest De Rigo, and Meath-based Kildare native, Cian O’Connor and Iron Man were just behind in sixth. Eleven combinations made it through to the jump-off, and the €50,000 first prize went to Yuri Mansur (BRA), riding Miss Blue-Saint Blue Farm, who registered a time of 41.52. That was six-hundredths of a second quicker than the time of Gregory Wathelet (BEL) and Bond JamesBond De Hay.

The two Irish combos in the tie-breaker both jumped clear, with Allen fastest on 41.83, to O’Connor’s 42.51.

Earlier in the week, Tipperary man, Denis Lynch bagged a brace of two-star triumphs at Sentower Park in Belgium.

His first triumph came in conjunction with King Blue in the Grand Prix Qualifier, the duo recording a double clear over the 1.45m examination and proving more than a second faster than the best of the rest with a jump-off time of 35.93.

On Saturday, Lynch got the leg up on Katja to secure the honours in the 75-strong 1.45m speed class, setting a time of 60.95 while leaving all the obstacles intact. And just to emphasise his stellar form, Lynch also nabbed third-place prize money with Cornets Iberio.

Lynch’s fellow Premier County pilot, Shane Breen was also on the winner’s rostrum at two-star level, landing the spoils in the Big Tour Longines Ranking Grand Prix at Chard.

Breen, who had secured a podium finish the previous day, came out on top of an 11-strong jump-off, going clear second time around in 36 seconds, nine-hundredths of a second faster than Britain’s Rachel Proudley and Nera D Champ FT.