“‘Theo’ has been incredible the whole tour,” said Swail of the 13-year-old Holsteiner, owned by Mannon Farm. “He's been second, third, second, third, third, fourth. I mean, he's been clear and clear and clear and clear. So, I'm just so happy that he won today because he really deserved it. Honestly, nearly more than any of them. He's been probably the most consistent throughout the duration.”

Theo’s consistency was on full display at Desert Circuit 10, with Swail and the gelding producing one of five clear rounds over Sunday afternoon’s Peter Grant-designed course. From there, the USA’s Paris Sellon and The Duchess were the first to return for the jump-off, and they set the pace to beat at 42.01 seconds.

That time would not hold up for long however. Swail and Theo were the very next entry to take to the Grand Prix Arena, and while Swail was not particularly proud of his jump-off efforts, the pair’s time of 39.20 seconds was more than enough to move them into the lead.

“The jump off actually, honestly, I wasn’t that happy with; I thought it was very ragged,” explained Swail. “Again, Theo was being super…He was very good to me to jump the last two jumps well, and thankfully we won. It just wasn’t my favorite one. I wanted him to win today, and I didn’t feel I did a great job to help him do that, to be honest. So, listen, sometimes you win whenever it’s maybe not the best round you’ve ever had, and I think that was one of those rounds today.”

With Swail taking home the win, Sellon and The Ducchess, owned by Willow Grace, finished in second place as the only other double clear effort. Rounding out the top three with four faults in a time of 39.55 seconds were Kaitlin Campbell (USA) and Bull Run’s Hesed.

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