Cork native Shane Sweetnam and the stallion Cornwall took the top prize in the $25,000 Tryon Resort Grand Prix at Tryon International Equestrian Center on Sunday, to conclude the competitions at the Tryon Fall IV series.

Sweetnam and Cornwall completed the jump-off track in 37.838 seconds ahead of US rider Emanuel Andrade with Boy IV, who stopped the clock in 40.399 seconds. Fellow Irish rider Darragh Kerins and Rebeca LS completed the final double clear effort of the class, completing the track with a time of 48.176 seconds. Both Sweetnam and Kerins are Florida-based.

 

sweetnam_kerins
Shane Sweetnam (centre) with runner-up Emanuel Andrade (left) and Darragh Kerins (right)

The jump-off on the new grass complex at Tryon featured nine combinations and only the top three finishers completed both rounds of the class without faults.

“Michel (Vaillancourt) did a great job today and I thought that it was a very nice course. It was big enough and not too technical I thought,” explained Sweetnam. “It was nice that the horses who were going to do this class had the opportunity to compete on the grass on Friday as well. The class had the right number of clears with nine and that always makes for an exciting jump-off.”

Cornwall is typically ridden by Sweetnam’s client, Kaley Tomeu, who sustained an injury and turned over the reins to her trainer while she recovers. The talented young stallion gained competition experience on both the turf and in the George H. Morris Arena this week, as Sweetnam contested the $35,000 1.45m Horseware Ireland CSI 3* Opener and placed second, as well as the $8,000 1.40m Open Jumper Classic presented by Nutrena.

“I have my other horse Chaqui Z competing next week in the CSI 5*, as well as Cornwall and Main Road, who finished second in the class last night. I’ll then have to rotate the horses a bit as we’re going to go to indoors after,” commented Sweetnam. “I’m really lucky that I have such a strong string and they’re all getting mileage. Cornwall is a nice addition.”