CORK’S Shane Sweetnam and the Irish Sport Horse gelding CSF James Kann Cruz, bred by Patrick Connolly, have proved their consistency at the very top of the sport yet again, with a runner-up finish in the concluding class of the Major League Show Jumping fixture at Tryon, North Carolina, the five-star $340,000 MLSJ 1.60m Grand Prix.

Forty-two combinations took on the challenging first-round track, with 12 jumping clear to proceed to the jump-off, where six managed to keep a clean sheet. Sweetnam and his reliable equine partner jumped double clear in 43.94 seconds to finish a close second to Nicola Philippaerts (BEL) on Gadget Mouche (43.74). Kent Farrington (USA) and Greya filled out the podium in third, while Galway’s Michael Duffy and Be Sky Hawk placed eighth in the class.