IRELAND’S Shane Sweetnam and the 12-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding James Kann Cruz (Kannan x CSF Telly Cruz by Cruising), bred by Patrick Connolly, showed their consistent form at the top level when competing at the Hampton Classic Horse Show last week.
After a number of good results during the show, the pair were runners-up in the concluding five-star $400,000 1.60m Longines Hampton Classic Grand Prix, which saw 38 combinations do battle for the generous prize fund.
It was a challenging track and only three horses and riders finished the first round fault-free to proceed to the jump-off. Kristen Vanderveen (USA) on Bull Run’s Jireh incurred four faults second time out and had to settle for third place, as Sweetnam and Jessica Mendoza (GBR) on In The Air both managed to jump clear a second time.
Mendoza took the win in a time of 37.34 seconds to claim $132,000, with Sweetnam just a fraction behind in 37.90 for an $80,000 prize.
Afterwards, the Cork native commented: “I was very happy with my horse. He’s a very different horse (from Jessica’s). He spends a bit of time in the air and is a bit of a slower horse, so I did my plan close enough to what I thought would be enough to challenge. He jumped great. In hindsight, I could have taken a few more gambles.”
In the ribbons
The Hampton Classic Horse Show at Bridgehampton, New York ran last week, with international classes held from Thursday through until Sunday.
Thursday’s two-star $5,000 1.40m two-phase class saw David Blake place sixth with Gucci des Embruns, in a class where the top five places all went to Americans.
The two-star $32,000 1.45m Grand Prix qualifier on Friday saw three Irish men finish in the top eight, with Daniel Kerins in fifth place on board Malou Blue PS, Philip McGuane in sixth riding Crislin van den Bosrand Z and Blake eighth on Gucci des Embruns.
Friday’s five-star $116,100 Grand Prix qualifier saw two Irish riders on the podium. Of the 43 starters, just 10 jumped clear in round one to book their place in the jump-off, where six combinations retained a clean sheet.
Sweetnam rode a brilliant double clear on board James Kann Cruz (ISH) to claim the runner-up spot in a jump-off time of 37.51 seconds, closely followed by fellow Irishman Jonathan Corrigan on Darius de Kerglenn in third (38.39). McLain Ward (USA) set the winning time of 36.84 with High Star Hero to take the top prize of $38,280. Sweetnam took home $23,200 for second place, while Corrigan claimed $17,400 for third.
On Saturday, Sweetnam then placed fifth with Coriaan van Klapscheut Z in the five-star $62,500 1.50m winning round class.
Blake rode Cornwall BH into fifth place in Sunday’s two-star $70,000 1.45m Grand Prix from a start list of 32, when he was among just six combinations who jumped clear in the first round. Only two managed to keep all the fences intact in round two. Blake took home $4,200 for his efforts.