Sunday was a day that Castlemagner’s Shane Sweetnam will never forget, as his parents made the journey to Sweden to watch their son and the horse that has played such a major role in making him one of the stars of world show jumping, take down an elite field in the Rolex Grand Prix at the illustrious Falsterbo Horse Show in Sweden on a Sunday afternoon.
It was a first CSIO five-star Grand Prix triumph for Sweetnam, as well as a first Rolex Grand Prix success.
Doing it with the ‘James Kann Cruz’ (Gizmo Partners and Sweetnam), the Irish Sport Horse bred in Co Galway by Patrick Connolly, added to the occasion for the Castlemagner native, who is the fifth ranked show jumper in the world and, after a week that also included another podium and top five finish at five-star level, may well be climbing higher.
‘James Kann Cruz’ goes by the name ‘Gizmo’ and has long established himself as one of the elite jumpers on the planet. This has led to a slew of consistent performances but, as a big unit, he has been susceptible to zippier models in jump-offs.
But in one of the most prestigious classes of the global calendar, the 13-year-old gelding, who was partnered by Sweetnam at the Paris Olympics, was able to deploy his giant stride while showcasing guts to go with his bottomless scope, to snatch the verdict from winning machine Richard Vogel (GER) with a jump-off round that will never be forgotten.
It was a fourth Grand Prix success for ‘Gizmo’ from a yield of 24 Grand Prix podiums, and Sweetnam was as pleased for the horse as for himself.
“It was a brilliant result. ‘Gizmo’ is in great form. He has been knocking on the door for a long time now. We’ve been really consistent and we’ve been fast but there always seems to be someone a little faster or getting us somewhere,” the Cork man told Horse Sport Ireland on Monday morning.
“Obviously the draw for the jump-off, that I was fastest in the first round and could go last, helped me know what I needed to do and, really, everything came up the way I wanted. He was really pinging and enjoying it there.
“So I was delighted and my parents were there which made it very exciting.
“And for the horse, I think he deserves a major win like this. Falsterbo is a legendary show and hopefully it will give us a bit of momentum that we can get a few more like this. But either way, he’s been brilliant for me and it was a special day for us.”
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Sweetnam setting up Sweet Oak Farm with his wife Abi, and they are now reaping the rewards of their vision and endeavour.
There was, perhaps, an omen in that ‘James Kann Cruz’ was the quickest of the 14 clear rounds in the opening examination of 14 obstacles and 17 jumping efforts set by Frank Rothenberger, by almost half a second from Vogel and Cloudio. Certainly, in practical terms, it was significant.
Jordan Coyle and ‘Chaccolino’ (Coyle and Elan Farm) were actually second fastest but four faults in the second round dropped them to 10th. It was Vogel and his 12-year-old stallion who eked five-hundredths of a second off the time set by Steve Guerdat (SUI) and Albufuehren’s ‘Iashin Sitte’ to set what looked a daunting target.
‘James Kann Cruz’ momentarily slipped on the rollback but still managed to clear the tricky narrow jump straight after. When Sweetnam opened the throttle, the grey galloped with ears pinned back, cleared the penultimate obstacle and then the last, the timers ceasing to move from 37.68 for a decisive triumph.
It was a magnificent result, on the week that Horse Sport Ireland announced Equieire as the new official competition jacket supplier to the Irish high performance programme.  The show kicked off with three of the top five in the opening five-star class on Thursday.
There are six Irish athletes in the top 50 of the latest Longines FEI world rankings, and 11 in the top 100 and this was reflected in Sweden, with Sweetnam heavily involved with a trademark clear from ‘James Kann Cruz’ to earn fourth. This proved an ideal pipe-opener for what was to come and crucially, as the first Rolex Grand Prix qualifier of the week, guaranteed a berth in Sunday’s feature.
Coyle was best of the Green Jackets with ‘King Kannan GP’ (Elan Farm) going clear in 62.11 to just miss out on victory, Andre Thieme claiming top honours in the 1.50m speed class by virtue of a time of 61.72 with ‘DPS Chakaria’. Trevor Breen rounded out the top five with ‘Konrad Obolensky’ (Ian and Heather Black).
The Ardmore rider and ‘King Kannan GP’ moved up one rung on the ladder on Friday morning when triumphant in the five-star Falsterbo Derby qualifier.  The pair were electric and foot perfect over the 530m, 14-jump track, going clear in 68.66 to take the spoils. That was almost two seconds clear of ‘Linda Heed’ (SWE) with Laurien Van Orshof, with her fellow Swede, Stephanie Holmén third on ‘Next Lady’.
On Saturday, Sweetnam showed off the depth he possesses when improving on his previous day’s result, sharing second in the week’s second Rolex Grand Prix qualifier with ‘Pia Maria H’ (Seabrook and Sweetnam).
This was a 1.50m speed class, and though Philipp Weishaupt (GER) and Callao L were unbeatable, stopping the clock in 62.98, there was no separating Sweetnam and his 11-year-old mare, from Charlotte Jacobs (USA) and Korbach van de Renger.
Both combinations registered times of 64.14 to split the second and third-place prize money between them.
Breen, from Cashel, and Konrad Obolensky had a frustrating four faults in the Falsterbo Derby, and, while fifth was a strong result from a nine-year-old on such a test, their time in that first round suggested that they would have been very competitive in a jump-off.
Only three pairings progressed to the decider and victory went to Martin Fuchs (SUI) with ‘Love de Vie’.