Conor Swail seals five-star speed win in Washington

Co Down’s Conor Swail and his veteran campaigner Count Me In came out on top in a very competitive $63,000 FEI Speed Final at Washington International Horse Show on Friday night. A time of 61.24 seconds saw Swail finish less than two-tenths of a second faster than McLain Ward (USA) and First Lady, while third spot went to Ireland’s Simon McCarthy and Narcotique v/h Dingeshof.

“I was lucky enough I was able to see most of the riders,” explained Swail. “I saw McLain and Simon going, and I thought Laura actually had a great round early on. I was very lucky I rode ‘Crosby’ today. He’s very careful and a serial winner, so it’s very nice to know that if I give him a good opportunity to do everything right, he normally repays me.”

There was also Irish success in the $32,000 Two Phase at the same venue, with Derry’s Jordan Coyle finishing as runner-up aboard King Kannan GP.