SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO,, Calif.--After finishing in a close second in the Blenheim Spring Classic 1 Grand Prix, Conor Swail on Count Me In returned to the Blenheim Spring Classic 2 to pick up back-to-back wins, including the featured $117,000 CSI3* 1.50m Blenheim Spring Classic 2 Grand Prix on Saturday, April 13.
Conor Swail on Count Me In (Photo by McCool Photography)Prior to Saturday, Swail and Count Me In had already won the $32,000 CSI3* 1.50m Welcome Speed Stake, held on Thursday, April 11, and Swail demonstrated the same speed again in the week’s finale FEI event at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park.
Olaf Petersen designed the course for the Grand Prix, set on the newly revamped Ortega Ring, for the 23 starters, six of which advanced to the jump-off.
When Swail went in the jump-off, the time to beat had been set at 43.51 seconds by his student Vanessa Mannix on Carmela Z.
Swail made beating that time look easy as he finished in 39.83 seconds to win.
Nicole Haunert on My Lady Lavista, placed second in 42.40 seconds, and Mannix finished third.
“I thought it was a good course today,” said Swail. “It was a decent height, and there were enough tests, enough that there were only a few clears out of the 23. I thought Olaf did a very good job.”
SWAIL has now ridden Count Me In for roughly three years, and after stepping the gelding back slightly in 2023, he has him back toward the top of his game.
“Count Me In is showing a lot of good form,” said Swail . “I thought he was amazing today. I'm hoping to start to bring him back up to do some five star classes again. He's feeling really good.”
“When he's in the stall, you don't go near him unless you have treats for him,” said Swail. “Once you have treats, he'll come over and say hello, but otherwise you just leave him to it. He's like, ‘Go away! I'm grumpy.’ But anyone could ride him, to be honest. He's very pleasant, very easy to work with. Once he's out in the ring and once you're flatting him, everything is nice and easy.”
“At the minute, I have a couple of horses on the East Coast as well,” said Swail. “So, I'm over in Riyadh next week for the World Cup Final with Vanessa Mannix, and then the week after that we’re going to Lexington. I have two very nice horses on the East Coast that are going to do a few more shows, and then we’ll all come back over. These guys are going to hang out here.”
In addition to Count Me In, “these guys” includes another of Swail’s mounts, Vital Chance de la Roque, who gave Swail his third major win of the week, the $15,000 CSI3* 1.40m Jump Off Classic held on Friday, April 12.
