WASHINGTON, D.C.--Conor Swail of Ireland on Count Me In just beat McLain Ward on First Lady in the $63,000 Speed Final while Jessica Mendoza of Great Britain won over Ireland's Jordan Coyle in the $332,000 Two Phase Friday evening at the Washington International Horse Show.
Conor Swail on Count Me In (Photo by Shawn McMillen)In the Speed Final, a rail down added three seconds to a rider's time, so it was possible to still do very well with one rail.
In fact, only two, Swail and Ward, went clean over the big, long speed class course set by Nick Granat.
Swail, going 20th of 21, was clean in 61.24 seconds, sixteen one hundredths of a second faster than Ward, who was clean in 61.40 seconds.
Simon McCarthy of Ireland on Narcotique v/h Dingeshof had the fastest time of the night, but with one rail down converted to three extra seconds, he finished third in a time of 62.23 seconds.
“I was lucky enough I was able to see most of the riders,” said Swail. “I saw McLain and Simon going, and I thought Laura actually had a great round early on. I was very lucky I rode ‘Crosby’ today. He's very careful and a serial winner, so it's very nice to know that if I give him a good opportunity to do everything right, he normally repays me.”
Swail has been riding Crosby for about three years and has won 26 FEI classes on him.
SWAIL ALSO has Vital Chance de la Roque, aka “Vinny,” in Washington.
Jessica Mendoza on In The Air (Photo by Shawn McMillen)“They are kind of my two old timers; one is 17 and the other is 15, so they are getting to the twilight of their career, but they are still competing at a very high level for me,” said Swail, who won the World Cup qualifier in Washington in 2022 with Crosby. “They are all healthy and jumping very well for me, so I’m enjoying life at the moment.”
“If you win here, you deserve it,” he said. “It's nice we have a good group of riders here, a lot of top riders. It's always nice to compete against the best.”
Richy Vogel of Germany on Levi Noesar was fourth in 62.44, Alise Oken on Oraline van Prinseveld was fifth in 63.77, and Nina Malleyvaey of France on My Clementine was sixth in 63.62, all three faster than Swail and Ward but with one rail down.
WIHS donated $25,000 to its military partner, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, thanks to clear rounds over the TAPS jump.
The $32,000 Two Phase, a new class for Washington, had 21 entries in a format in which after the first phase riders went straight into the speed phase.
Mendoza on In The Air was clean in phase two in 32.32 seconds to beat Coyle on King Kannon, clean in 32.79 seconds, just four tenths of a second back.
Carly Anthony on Jet Blue finished third in 34.27 seconds.
“The two phase actually worked in my favor today because I rode her in the costume class yesterday,” said Mendoza, who placed third in the Accumulator costume class. “She went fast, so it was nice to get the first seven or eight jumps just getting her back and not rushing. Then getting to do the last few jumps fast is always fun with her.”
“She's incredible,” said Mendoza, who is competing at WIHS for the first time. “She's so athletic; she's like a little cat when she jumps. She's been great because I can use her for all of the speed classes, and she can be used for a big class. She's very useful to me and so careful and wonderful.”
