FALSTERBO, Sweden--Shane Sweetnam of Ireland on James Kann Cruz won the CSIO5*, 1.60m two round Rolex Grand Prix on Falsterbo in a thrilling jump-off against a field that included most of the top riders in the world.
Shane Sweetnam on James Kann Cruz The top 14, all of which were clean, qualified for round two from a starting field of 50 over the two courses set by Frank Rothenberger.
Charlotte Jacobs on Playboy JT Z, who has been winning at an incredible rate since early spring, was third to go in round two against the clock and just barely touched a fence behind that resulted in four faults, but she finished in 40.10 to place eighth, the fastest of those with four faults.
Then clean times got faster and faster - Ben Maher on Point Break was clean in 40.21, followed by Andreas Schou of Denmark on Napoli VH Nederassenhof in 39.98, Steve Guerdat of Switzerland on Albfuehren's Lashin Sitte in 38.68, and Richie Vogel of Germany on Claudio, 38.63.
It seemed impossible to beat Vogel's 38.63, but Sweetam made an incredible turn and despite a slip on that turn jumped clean and finished in 37.68 for the win over Vogel and Guerdat.
THE U.S. had three in the top 20, as, along with Jacobs, Kent Farrington on Greya was 15th with four faults in 76.50 in round one and Mimi Gochman on Iron Maiden was 19th with four faults in 79.03.
"This horse really deserved this," said Sweetnam, who won his first 5* grand prix and first Rolex Grand Prix. "He's so consistent. He's been second twice. This time I was last to go, so I knew I had nothing to lose."
About the slip, Sweetnam said, "He's a big horse. He's quick to turn, but his body has to catch up with him."
"Our chef d'equipe Jessica Kerten had given me Richie's numbers of strides, so I just tried to duplicate it," said Sweetnam. "It was a very special win. My parents were here, they come to all the shows."
The week before at Sprue Meadows, Lillie Keenan, who is named to the World Championships on Fasther, and McLain Ward, on the World Championships team on Hugh Star Hero, took three of their other horses to the 5* Spruce Meadows show in Calgary, Canada.
The two round, 1.60m Queen Elizabeth II Cup Grand Prix had an extremely difficult first round plus an equally difficult second round that resulted in only one rider, Abdulrahma Alrajhi of Saudi Arabia on Ventago, having the only two clean rounds to win.
Ward, going early in round one on the inexperienced 10-year-old Lestro VD Valckenborg had eight faults, presumably out of round two, but after the last of the 40 entrants had gone, Ward was one of the 12 qualified for round two.
After another eight fault round, Ward finished 10th.
Keenan on Kick On qualified for round two with four faults, where she was clean in 82.75 to finish fifth behind second placed Daniel Coyle on Farrel, and third placed Daniel Bluman on Corbie V.V., each also with a two round total of four faults but faster times.
Keenan also rode in the Derby, a competition with a bank, and other unusual obstacles, a competition that is a fan favorite in Canada as well as in many European shows but one not usually contested by U.S. riders.
Keenan on Emerlon, however, tried the competition and finished fifth with four faults behind Mark Bluman of Israel on Claron CR, who won in a jump-0ff over Canada's Kyle King on Odysseus, and Vogel on Chember 3, who was the fastest of those with four faults.
c
