THERMAL, Calif.--Conor Swail continued the Irish domination in events over the weekend when he rode One Edition to win the $117,000, CSI3* Grand Prix on Feb, 15 at the Desert International Horse Park.
Conor Swail on One Edition (Photo by High Desert Sport Photo)The Irish had also won the first leg of the League of Nations series in Abu Dhabi, and Irish riders had placed first, second, third and fourth in the World Cup qualifier in Ocala.
This week was Swail’s first time riding One Edition in FEI competition, so Swail considered the class on Saturday to be a “fact-finding mission.”
Swail won in a six-horse jump-off from a starting field of 24 in the Desert Circuit 6 featured event.
“The win was a bit of a surprise really!” said Swail. “The first day this week she was a little green. She jumped great yesterday, and I thought, ‘Why not try her today?’”
The 10-year-old mare is usually competed by James Chawke, but while Chawke is out with an injury, Swail is filling in.
“Vanessa Mannix owns her, so One Edition is part of our team, and she has been for the past couple of years,” said Swail. “She’s competed very successfully with James. He brought her along very nicely. She’s done a few ranking classes and has won a lot. Luckily enough for me, I’m able to step in there and ride her for a little awhile.”
SWAIL WAS the second to last to go in the jump-off over the course designed by Colm Quinn on the Grass Field..
The time to beat had been set at 40.14 seconds by Canada’s Ali Ramsay on Conrado 12, but Swail shaved off almost a second to win in 39.24 seconds.
Ramsay placed second, and the Paris Sellon was third in a time of 42.45 seconds on Anna Jo.
“She jumped beautifully in the first round,” said Swail of One Edition, or “Addie” as she is known in the barn. “The start of the course, I maybe just overrode her a little bit. She got a little tense throughout the second half of the round and started to get a little edgy, but with her carefulness and quality, we ended up getting a lovely clear round.”
“She is quite quick actually," he said. "So, in the jump-off, I just tried to think a little bit about what to do better on her, which was sort of less leg and a little better timing. I thought she was very, very good in the jump-off. It was a very nice round. She did everything she was supposed to do. It was great to come out on top!”
