Ireland Takes All! Conor Swail & Flower Win $35,000 Tractorland Cup and Daniel Coyle Wins Overall

In a repeat of last night’s competition, late to go in the jump-off of the $35,000 Tractorland Cup, Jim Ifko and his striking stallion Un Diamant des Forets took the lead with a fast, clean, and applause driven jump-off. For the second night in a row, he walked out of the ring to watch Conor Swail and Flower stop the clock a hair earlier.

In a more technical course for the Saturday night crowd with brand new jumps and an imposing cut-out wall across the middle, the third night of 1.45 competition saw some fatigue and the 12 jump – 14 effort course.  Six combinations advanced to the jump-off – Lauren Crooks on two mounts, Ifko, Swail, Vanessa Mannix, and Thurday’s winner Daniel Coyle.

“The course was relatively tough – I thought it was a nice course again, but for some reason it proved a little bit more difficult,” said Swail. “In the jump-off, Jim put it up to me tonight again and I honestly thought I was a little bit luckier. She’s such a good horse – she was a wee bit tired after three days in a row and we kept her as happy and focused as we could.”

“I was thrilled with my horse. All week long my horse kept improving and improving. I thought he jumped the best tonight of all three classes. Coming into the jump-off with Conor behind me, I knew what I was in for, but rode as fast as I could. I left a little bit of a gap in a few turns and competing with Conor is always tough,” said Ifko.

The Mannix family had a big night all around – Vanessa Mannix is a co-owner of Swail’s mare Flower, she represented Canada in international show jumping competition and her brother in international polo competition. On a young horse, 28-year-old Vanessa Mannix took 3^rd in the $35,000 Tractorland Cup with her 8-year-old bay mare Cantika (Catoki x Luxano).

“I’m really lucky to have my mare here – I’ve been riding her for about a year and early in her career jumping FEI ranking classes. I couldn’t be happier – she is so game and so careful. It was a great experience and it’s an honor to be in this company and showing in my hometown,” said Mannix.

From a Calgary polo family, Mannix received the news this evening that her brother Frederick Mannix, Jr., team captain of Alegeria Polo Team, had a historic equestrian night as well in Argentina against the best polo players in the world.

Frederick Mannix Jr.’s Alegria team of 37 goals upset 40 goal La Dolfina in the Hurlingham Tournament, the second most important high-goal tournament of the Argentine Polo season, extinguishing the hope of La Dolfina Captain Cambiasso of winning the Triple Crown [of three highest goal polo tournaments in the world] for the season.