Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam and nine-year-old Cjoxx Z won the MXN $5,000,000 GNP Seguros CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix on Saturday night, held at the Otomí Club Hípico in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

Twenty-nine combinations, representing Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Mexico and the United States of America, took on German course builder Frank Rothenberger‘s first-round course, with a time allowed of 87 seconds.

Eight competitors advanced to the jump-off, four of whom were from the host nation, with two from Brazil, one from Germany and one from Ireland.

Sweetnam, who is currently ranked number 12 in the world and was the highest-ranked rider at the show, rode a clear round with Cjoxx Z in the fastest time. He guided the chesnut Belgian Warmblood gelding (Comme Il Faut x Dollar de La Pierre) around the course to cross the finish line in 43.03 seconds.

Mexican fans ended up disappointed, when Manuel Gonzalez Dufrane (MEX) and Hortensia van de Leeuwerk set the fastest time of all the finalists at 42.26 seconds, but two poles on the ground left them in sixth place.

Another Mexican made up for this though, when Andres Azcarraga Rivera Torres (MEX) and Contendros 2 secured second place, with the second fastest clear jump-off performance in a time of 44.92 seconds.

Brazil’s Santiago Lambre and Chacco-Blue II were the fastest of the four-faulters and claimed the bronze honours on this occasion, in a time of 44.17 seconds.

After his win, Sweetnam said: “This was a great win for Cjoxx. I had a good feeling that we had a big chance this weekend. He has been very consistent since we started together and I am very happy that he could win such a big Grand Prix.”