WELLINGTON, Fla.--The Irish scored again as Conor Swail on Casturano won the $117,000 CSI5* WEF Challenge Cup over a field of 57 on Thursday, March 21 at the Winter Equestrian Festival.

Conor Swail on Oasturano (Photo by Sportfot)The Cup was a qualifier for ‘Saturday Night Lights’ $500,000 Rolex CSI5* Grand Prix before the 2024 season concludes on March 31.

Over a course set by Guilherme Jorge of Brazil, 15 horses advanced to the jump-off that included six Irishmen and representatives of five other nations.

Swail set the time-to-beat of 36.25 seconds early in the jump-off.

“The horse is phenomenal,” said Swail of the gelding that is still gaining experience at the five-star level. “He just needs a few more big classes, another six or seven five stars, and I'm going to have a lot of fun with him. He’s so much quality, careful; he's honestly incredible. In the beginning he was going too high, but he’s matured a lot over the last year."

 

“I WAS IN California over the winter because I thought that would be a better start for him,” said Swail, 52. “The plan was always to come here and give him a little bit of a tougher test and it’s worked out great.”

Germany’s Christian Kukuk on Mumbai was second in a time of 36.35 seconds.

With less than four tenths of a second separating the top three, Ireland's Andrew Bourns on Sea TopBlue was third in a time of 36.56 seconds.

“There are so many good riders here in Wellington that winning a class is really just about sticking to your plan and doing your best,” said Swail. “Ireland has so many strong riders right now in the U.S. and Europe, it’s wonderful to be among them.”