HORSE of a lifetime? He is, for sure. It’s what you dream of, to breed one like him,” said Patrick Connolly about the ‘millionaire horse’: James Kann Cruz. The Cummer farmer-breeder is typical of hundreds of this backbone breed throughout the country. Growing up with a love of horses, his was inherited from his late father Jim - hoping, always hoping, to breed a superstar.

Tools were downed in Irish households on the Friday of Dublin Horse Show to watch the Aga Khan Nations Cup. Literally, in Patrick’s case as the agricultural contractor would bring a portable television out to the machinery shed to watch his heroes, while fixing farm machinery.

Fast forward then to 2022, when Patrick and his family had the thrill of watching James Kann Cruz and Shane Sweetnam on the winning Irish team on home ground and of holding the Aga Khan Cup afterwards. Stuff of dreams.

Shane Connolly and his wife Mags, Shane Sweetnam, Brian and his wife Pauline (right of picture), Dolly and Patrick Connolly with their grandchildren: Megan, Jack (with Dolly), Alison and centre stage is grandson James, who CSF James Kann Cruz is named after \ HSI

“Shane [Sweetnam] is great, a total gentleman. He’s always updating us on the horse,” remarked Patrick. There’s another cast member named Shane in this story: Shane Connolly, plus his older brother, Brian and Patrick’s wife, Dolly, the dynamo who does the farm and business paperwork.

James Kann Cruz’s family tree is well-known by now, but it’s a story well worth re-telling: how Brian got a phone call from Dermot Considine about a mare that had competed with Daniel Bürki on the Swiss gold medal team at the European young rider championships.

“He said she was a Clover Hill, but there was no breeding on her FEI book. As soon as Owen Horan saw her, Owen said ‘I remember that mare jumping in Rockmount with the Kennys.’ It was amazing.”

The deal went through after a DNA check confirmed the mare was indeed a Clover Hill daughter. “She was 15.3, very blood, like a thoroughbred,” recalled Patrick.

Patrick, his wife Dolly and their eldest grandson James after whom James Kann Cruz is named. Also taking pride of place is the picture of their Tuam-bred and Shane Sweetnam competing in the Aga Khan Nations Cup at Dublin Horse Show, presented to Patrick at the Irish Horse Board marketing conference \ Susan Finnerty

Covered by Cruising, Tell Of Clover produced CSF Telly Cruz in 2005, who in turn produced James Kann Cruz 11 years ago.

The Kannan colt, with “the very good canter”, made an impression on the family from the start. And on the Gannon family too, when they called down from Longford scouting for a filly foal.

CSF Whiterock Cruise had proved a previous lucky buy from the Connollys for Anne Gannon. The Cruising-Diamond Serpent Grade A mare qualified for Dublin as both a four and five-year-old with Cathal McMunn in the saddle and also won the Cavan six/seven-year-old final at Cavan International for Edward Butler.

Retired to stud, she bred a number of promising youngsters, including AHG Whiterock Cornetcruise, currently competing in Oliva with Francis Connors.

“We were always lucky with Pat Connolly. Lovely, genuine people,” so having heard that Shane had a Kannan filly for sale, Anne, her sister Mary and father Michael went to Galway to see the CSF foals.

Patrick Connolly with CSF Ali’s Diamond, James Kann Cruz’s Diamant de Semilly half-sister \ Susan Finnerty

From the first-ever jump

“Michael was walking down along the aisle and he said, ‘Is that foal there for sale?’ I said that’s another Kannan but a colt. And he said ‘Take that one out if you don’t mind’. And he’d just seen him go around the arena for a few minutes before he said to his daughters, ‘That’s the one you buy!’” recalled Patrick about the wise Longford horseman’s intuition.

“We were more looking for another potential broodmare, but the colt was lovely,” agreed Anne.

What was it about the Kannan colt that changed their minds?

“Exceptionally light off the ground,” replied Anne. “It’s like Muhammad Ali. He was like a butterfly the way he barely touched the ground. He was always very athletic and very light off the ground. That’s the main feature of the horse always. You even see the way he kind of dances going into the arena.”

The Connolly family has used their CSF (Connolly Stud Farm) prefix since 2007 and similarly, Anne has her own prefix: AHG Whiterock, which often appears in her horse’s names, happens to be her address, just outside Longford town.

James Kann Cruz was originally produced by John Mulligan, from Mohill. A dual-purpose sportsman, he played county football for Leitrim and won a football scholarship for Athlone AIT.

“It was difficult to keep it all going, but I always loved working with horses. It’s what I was born into and grew up doing, I was on a horse before I could walk and both sides of my family were into horses.

“We have a great team. I’m lucky to have my brother Tadhg, who’s a great rider and horseman, as well as my dad, John, who taught us everything and the support from my mother Anella and sisters Melissa, Sarah and Charlene. My four-year-old son Alex is already starting with ponies.”

John’s decision to focus on horses paid off, with show jumpers of the calibre of AHG Whiterock Doctor Cruise, Creevagh Special and Javas Gucci all competed by him. And James Kann Cruz, when the Gannon sisters sent him to John.

“I lightly broke him as a three-year-old, then we produced him slowly and started his jumping career at four years old.”

The big grey qualified twice for Dublin as a four and five-year-old in what was to be a dress rehearsal for his future Aga Khan appearances.

“Looking back, his performance was outstanding, jumping clear at every outing. He was always very careful and had so much scope to back it. I do remember knowing he was special after his first-ever jump with me on his back. I called the owners, Anne and Mary, straightaway and told them he was going for the top.

“It was a great feeling when he was a stride away from the jump, he’d round his body in preparation, like a coiled spring, ready to explode off the ground. He was big but light on the ground with a chilled attitude, always wanted to learn.”

“I’m a strong believer that if you teach a horse to be calm and relaxed, it pays off in the end. We always work to give the horse confidence and trust and when a horse has that, they will do anything for you and try their best.

“It’s great to see James Kann Cruz reaching the potential I always knew he was capable of and I’m so glad to have been part of this wonderful horse’s story,” added John.

Big stage rehearsals

From one patient horseman to another, as Francis Connors was next to take up the grey’s reins.

“He had been well produced with John Mulligan, who had him in Dublin when the horse was a four and five-year-old, so I was only continuing his work. He was so powerful and absolutely loved his jumping. To try and contain his exuberance was probably the biggest challenge, but a lot of the good horses are like that.

“They’re very powerful, maybe a bit headstrong. They know they’re good,” said Francis, who was getting ready to leave for the Sunshine Tour with a group of horses.

“Missing his seven-year-old year with Covid probably helped in a way. Probably the biggest thing was that I missed out on the chance of going to Lanaken with him, but just the fact that we got to do a lot of homework and the training shows during lockdown probably worked in his favour in the long run.”

“Fran never went to win the competition, he just went to jump. And he was always getting the horse ready for the big stage, rather than for a day,” remarked Anne about the Gannon sisters longterm plan for the horse they were convinced was a superstar.

“In later years, we were offered a lot of money at different stages, but we knew there was a lot in this horse and we hadn’t reached his potential. And we kept him and kept him and kept him.”

Shane Sweetnam and James Kann Cruz were third in Sunday’s $385,000 Lugano Diamonds CSI5* Grand Prix at Wellington International \ Sportfot

Eventually though, the offer the Gannon sisters couldn’t turn down came in September 2021 from Gizmo Partners LLC, the syndicate put together to buy Shane Sweetnam’s new horse.

“Francis was absolutely delighted when it was Shane that got the horse. The Sweetnams are another lovely family, real horse people and into the breeding side of it as well. All the family are involved and they go back a long way with horses.”

Just as the Gannons are. “My dad is 97 years of age now, he farmed all his life and now it’s the horses he has a great interest in. He even wanted to see the video today of the Cornet Obolensky horse jumping in Oliva with Francis.

“I’m a pharmacist by profession and just do horses as a hobby. And I just kind of got into breeding horses when my father bought a Clover Hill mare [Clover Kate] years ago and we started with her.

“It’s a hobby for me but still, to breed the best, you have to breed off the best. And if you don’t breed off the best, you’re not going to get the best. You have to improve your chances. I remember John Hughes, the vet who had Cavalier Royale, always said that.

“He said at least you improve your chances that way. It doesn’t say you’re going to get a world beater, but by breeding the best to the best, you can really improve your chances.”

Room for improvement

Francis Connors was pragmatic about the grey’s sale three years ago. “That’s the end game we’re in and Anne just loves to see the horses going on. It’s a great thrill for us to see how well he’s done since.”

‘Since’ has included a golden Horse Show Week for his connections - both the Connollys and Gannon families - boxwalking in the pocket area, when Shane and James Kann Cruz were on the winning home team and third in Sunday’s Grand Prix two years ago.

“We met the people that bought him at Dublin that year and they said they admire people that were able to go the whole long haul and produce a young horse for as long as possible, because it’s very expensive and a lot of time and effort. Sometimes, things mightn’t work out for you. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t,” said Anne about their eventual decision to sell the Galway-bred.

“There’s an awful lot of probabilities there. Like, he was a gelding. You had to keep him sound. If anything went wrong, you could lose a pocket of money after spending a lot of money. But there were two of us in it, so we took the chance.”

The Gizmo Syndicate’s investment paid off with James Kann Cruz now having earned over a million euros in prize money to date. Two Aga Khan home team caps, a team silver medal at the 2023 European Championships in Milan; Sweetnam’s first World Cup qualifier win last November at Lexington and a clutch of Grand Prix placings, including third place in the prestigious 2022 Geneva Grand Prix.

Shane Sweetnam and Gizmo Partner’s, James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising) claim victory in the $226,000 Longines FEI World Cup ™ at the 2023 National Horse Show at Lexington, Kentucky \ FEI Shawn McMillen Photography

With the Paris Olympics on the horizon, the Corkman and ‘Gizmo’ are widely tipped for the Irish team.

“Yes, I’ve had some very good horses and I still think we’re early in our career,” pointed out Shane. “He’s only 11 so you know, so far our journey together has been fantastic. Our results, obviously last year and the year before, have been great and this year, he’s started off strongly again.

“The highlight would be obviously split between the win in the Aga Khan Nations Cup or the silver medal at the European Championships last year.”

Last week, Kevin Babington remarked on the similarities he had observed between Carling King and James Kann Cruz. So what’s ‘Gizmo’, the unmistakable ‘Irish’ grey flagbearer on the international scene, like?

“He’s a very, very smart horse and definitely knows when it’s the big day. He really lights up with a big crowd and the big occasion,” Shane responded. “At home, he likes his own space. He likes his treats, but he doesn’t want to be smothered either.

“He’s still maturing and he’s definitely getting wiser and has matured into a more complete horse as time passes.

“And I still think there’s more room for improvement.”

€1,139,092

prize money won to date by James Kann Cruz.

119

Gizmo’s current Hippomundo rating, which makes him and Commissar Pezi (HANN) the top-ranked 11-year-olds in the database.

Sixth

James Kann Cruz’s place amongst the world’s top 10-year-olds in 2023.

Two

embryo transfers (Kannan and Tyson) off CSF Telly Cruz for 2024.

One

Aga Khan Cup winning team (2022).

CSF Telly Cruz with Shane, Patrick and Brian Connolly at home at Connolly Stud Farm \ Susan Finnerty

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