Conor Swail and Count Me In raced to victory in the $38,500 CSI2* Qualifier held as part of the Major League Show Jumping Ottawa tournament on Thursday, August 24, at Wesley Clover Parks in Ottawa, ON.
Swail tackled the one round speed track midway through the starting order riding Count Me In (Count Grannus), crossing the timers in 62.89 seconds. His lead would hold up until the end, with only fellow Irishman Jordan Coyle riding Emerald Irish Cruise, owned by Celtic Park LLC, coming close to catching him with a time of 64.67 seconds, almost two full seconds off the winning pace. Roberto Teran Tafur of Colombia took third place after stopping the timers in 64.73 seconds with Babycomeback, for owner Trefoil Farm LLC.
“My horse is very experienced, and it was a nice run around for him and he’s very fast,” said Swail of his 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding. “I knew if things went well that we’d be close, there or thereabouts, and thankfully he jumped lovely today, and everything came up the way I wanted it to, and it was a nice round.
Swail is no stranger to competing at Wesley Clover Parks, explaining, “I do love coming here as often as I can. It’s a great facility, they do a great job of keeping it modern. It has a good grass ring and a good warm-up as well. Everything lends itself to good show jumping and the horses being happy, and if they are happy, they are going to perform well. That’s why I enjoy coming.”
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