LEXINGTON, Ky.--Ireland’s Shane Sweetnam on James Kann Cruz won the 125,000 Lexington Grand Prix CSI3* on Saturday night, May 11, during the Kentucky Spring Horse Show.
Shane Sweetnam on James Kann CruzA field of international athletes was narrowed down to 12 for the jump-off.
Sweetnam narrowly edged out Canada’s Tiffany Foster on Electrique, beating them by just 2/10ths of a second, and Argentina’s Luis Pedro Biraben on Chacco Bumpy was third as one of the first to go clean in the jump-off.
Sweetnam has been riding James Kann Cruz, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, for three years, and is using the Kentucky Spring Horse Show as preparation for representing Ireland in the Nations Cup in Rome in a few short weeks.
“He’s very talented, he can be a little bit spirited, but I don’t mind that,” said Sweetnam. “I like that he really understands his job, so if I can keep him in the right place then he’ll do the rest. From the start, we’ve been a good match, so hopefully we can stay that way!”
THE ANDERSON LIMA designed course tested riders from start to finish with a vertical-oxer-vertical triple combination by the gate followed by a triple bar.
The final line was an oxer-vertical double combination with a direct line the final oxer towards the gate.
The jump-off asked new questions, beginning with a new oxer to a vertical on an angle.
It also featured the double combination and a long gallop from a single vertical to the final wide oxer away from the gate.
Seven horses turned in a second clear round, with Biraben and Chacco Bumpy setting the early time to beat, clean in 41.44 seconds.
Then Foster on Electrique was clean in a very quick 40.83 seconds.
Sweetnam went one round later with his veteran partner James Kann Cruz.
An inside path with a fast gallop early on in the course helped him make up time and he just edged out Foster.
“He was quite handy coming inside the gazebo, I think that line and the line after I was quite quick,” said Sweetnam. “That really got me a headstart to catch up with Tiffany. The last two I just kept coming a little bit, but nothing wild. I think it was early on the course that got it for me.”
“It’s a great facility and they do a great job here, so we are happy to be back,” he said. “They have good footing, good atmosphere, and always have nice courses. Anderson did a good job with the course, so I just thought it’d be a good getting going. He hadn’t jumped since WEF 12, and I think it was a nice course.”
