CONOR Swail has had an amazing season to date and he continued his run of form on Saturday, when winning the $117,000 FEI CSI3* 1.50m Grand Prix with Count Me In at Desert International Horse Park, Thermal, California.
This is Swail’s third year riding 17-year-old ‘Crosby’, as he is known at home, and they have had some outstanding successes together.
“He has been an incredible horse for me,” Swail said of Crosby, a Hanoverian gelding (Count Grannus x Sherlock Holmes). “He’s the best horse I’ve ridden. Two years ago, he took me to places [I’ve never gone]; we did Aachen, the World Cup Finals, if I’d had one less [rail] down, I would’ve been on the podium. The Aga Khan – that was the best jumping day of my career, so the horse has just been amazing for me.”
In total, 30 combinations started in the first round of Saturday’s Grand Prix, over a course designed by Joey Rycroft, with just seven of them getting their chance to jump again. The jump-off saw only four jumping clear for a second time, one of them was Canada’s Ali Ramsay on Conrado 12, who jumped a super clear round to take the lead in a time of 44.3 seconds.
However, Swail had the benefit of being last to jump and he pulled out all the stops to knock a second off Ramsay’s time to claim victory (43.3) and nudge her into second place. Austria’s Peter Petschenig finished third with Ennebel Van Het Posthuijs.
Swail’s consistency in winning is, at least in part, due to him being so in tune with his horses, picking up on when they are not quite on form.
“Last year, he [Count Me In] had a little bit of a dip in form there,” Swail said. “I think he was struggling a little bit mentally. Now the last few starts with him, he won the four-star in Vegas, had one down in the five-star here [Thermal] in December, he won the four-star here and now he’s won a three-star. I think that’s his last four Grands Prix, so three out of four wins is not bad.”
Happy horses
Swail’s main concern, though, is to keep his horses happy.
“I am trying to mind him a little bit now; he’s 17 and I don’t know how much I want to push him to do all the five-star shows,” he continued. “I think if I can keep him comfortable here and winning these three- and four-stars, and maybe the odd bigger one here and there, that’s maybe better for him.
“Some days he jumps better than other days, but the scores are still the same. It’s still a win. He’s just that good. I’m just trying to keep him as happy as I can.”
The horse may be happy at his jumping, but Swail gave an insight into his personality: “He’s very grumpy. Actually, one of my girls calls him ‘Grumpy’. If you go in his stall, he is ears back and he’s very grumpy, but when you take him out of the stall, he’s totally fine. He’s nice, kind and quiet.”
Swail has previously travelled between Thermal and Wellington during the winter season, but this year, decided to stay in California, which seems to have been a good decision, if his results are anything to go by!
James Chawke and Daido Van ‘T Ruytershof Z won the $10,000 1.35m Welcome Speed class at Thermal, California last Wednesday \ Tori Bilas
Irish on form
Show jumping at week nine of competitions at Desert International Horse Park began last Wednesday and Swail started well, when winning the $1,500 1.40m Open Jumper class on Vital Chance de la Roque. Out of 23 starters, there were 11 clear rounds, with Swail the fastest of those in 64.385 seconds.
James Chawke then claimed two top-10 placings for Ireland in the $10,000 1.35m Welcome Speed class, winning with Daido Van ‘T Ruytershof Z and placing ninth with Constanzehof’s Toy Story (CAN).
Chawke scored another win with Mulan BF in the day’s Seven-year-old 1.30-1.35m Young Jumper class. Swail ended the day with a runner-up position in the $1,000 FEI CSI3* 1.40m Two-Phase Special with Count Me In.
Chawke continued his run of form on Thursday, winning the $1,500 1.40m Open Jumper class with Maria III and placing third on Constanzehof’s Toy Story (CAN). The rider then won the day’s Seven-year-old 1.30-1.35m Young Jumper class with Mulan BF.
Jump clear
Swail kept the Irish flag flying, when he won the $25,000 1.45m Open Classic on Vital Chance de la Roque. From the 44 starters, there were only six combinations to jump clear, with Swail’s time of 67.968 seconds being the fastest.
To add to his winnings, Swail then won the $32,000 FEI CSI3* 1.50m Speed class riding Count Me In and also took third place with Theo 160. 41 combinations started this class, with 17 jumping clear rounds. Swail’s winning time of 67.33 seconds was 0.77 seconds faster than runner-up Mathijs Van Asten (NED) on Hotspot (68.1), while Swail’s other mount Theo 160 clocked 68.68 seconds.
Saturday’s $40,000 National Grand Prix saw an Irish one-two, when from 38 starters, nine jumped clear to make it through to the jump-off.
Of those, only three jumped clear again, with Mark Kinsella on Quality H taking the win in a super-fast 40.944 seconds, followed by Swail on Vital Chance de la Roque in second in a time of 43.647.
Chawke was runner-up again in the $25,000 1.40m Open Classic on Sunday riding Daido Van ‘T Ruytershof Z. the pair were just beaten in the jump-off by Mexico’s Jose Maria Quintana on Catoki Boy, who stopped the clock in 38.561 seconds.