Double Down for Ireland's Conor Swail on Day One

^{Conor Swail (IRL) & Theo 160 © Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk}

Opening Day Double for Conor Swail (IRL)

July 5, 2023 (Spruce Meadows) - Today marked the start of the final week of summer tournaments here at Spruce Meadows. The feature competition of the day was The Entourage (1.50m) one round competition - the first of two qualifiers this week for the $1,000,000 ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup on Saturday.

Over 45 horse/rider combinations stepped through the iconic clock tower to tackle the 580m track laid out by FEI Course Designer Santiago Varela (ESP). Athletes were required to clear 13 obstacles (15 jumping efforts) in a time of 87 seconds or less. Today the fastest clear round would win the competition.

Riders had to keep up a pace of 400m per minute in order to make the time allowed. Five of riders were able to do so and post clear rides - Conor Swail (IRL) riding Theo 160 was the fastest of them all. Swail crossed the finish line clear in a time of 78.45s to secure his victory. Swail is currently ranked 10th in the FEI World Rankings.

“Every time we go down in through that clock tower, you get pumped up off of that. So it's great to have a good start to the week. All the qualfications were today, now we’ve ticked all the boxes early” - Conor Swail (IRL) on a great start to the week as he’s now qualified for the weekend competitions.

^{Conor Swail (IRL) & Count Me In © Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Stur}k

Earlier today over 45 competitors stepped into the International Ring to challenge The Stud farm (1.45m) one-round competition. This competition was the  first of two this week where competitors could earn their ticket into Saturday’s $80,000 AKITA Drilling Winning Round.

The Irish have had a great string of luck these last few weeks of competition with multiple top placings and wins. Today, Conor Swail (IRL) would add to that list. Aboard Count Me In, Swail soared through the finish line, clear, in a time of 67.89s to claim the win. Swail also picked up the third place on his other mount Nadel Hero & DB. Fellow Irishman Darragh Kenny split those placing to finish second.

^{Robert Blanchette (IRL) & Carnlea Premier Balou © Spruce Meadows Media/Tony Lewis}

North American Ring Winners

Competitions in the North American Ring started early this morning. The Crew (1.45m) was first up with 34 horse/rider combinations taking on the track designed by FEI Course Designer Joey Rycroft (CAN). It was a one round competition where the fastest round with the least number of faults would take the victory.

The first victory of the day belonged to Robert Blanchette (IRL) aboard Carnlea Premier Balou. The pair posted the fastest clear round with a time of 62.29s.

^{Luis Gerardo Castaneda (MEX) & Shakira © Spruce Meadows Media/Tony Lewis}

The Partners (1.40m) was the second competition on the North American Ring today. Over 50 horse/rider combinations stepped into the ring hoping to post the fastest clear round and make it to the winner’s circle. Mexico’s Luis Gerardo Castaneda Mercado riding Shakira was the quickest clear round in the competition. The pair sailed over the finish line in a time of 62.68s.

Best of the Rest

#601 Friends of the Meadows 1.10m
Ina Kai Barila LaLiberte (CAN) & Uranie Du Tillard
© Spruce Meadows Media/Bart Onyszko

#605 Friends of the Meadows 1.20m
Ina Kai Barila LaLiberte (CAN) & Mara VD Bisschop
© Spruce Meadows Media/Bart Onyszko

#610 Mission Possible 1.30m
Stefania De Felice (USA) & Gilithyia VLS
© Spruce Meadows Media/Bart Onyszko

More Photos from Today

^{The Spruce Meadows Jump Crew stay busy this summer © Spruce Meadows Media/Bart Onyszko}

^{Spruce Meadows has a vast collection of jumps for championships all over the world. Pictured here are the horse heads from the 2018 Tryon World Equestrian Games © Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk}

^{Each winning horse during the Spruce Meadows Summer Tournaments is presented with a winning blanket in partnership with Horseware Ireland © Spruce Meadows Media/Tony Lewis}

^{A bit of relaxing between competitions for the riders on the International Ring © Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk}

 ^{Day One of the ‘North American’ is now behind us © Spruce Meadows Media/Mike Sturk}