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Conor Swail continues winning streak at Wellington Turf Tour 1.40m Grand Prix

Saturday, 17 January 2015
Wellington Turf Tour 2015

Conor Swail and Dillinger won $15,000 1.4m Grand Prix at The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour. Photo (c) Phelps Media Group.
Conor Swail and Dillinger won $15,000 1.4m Grand Prix at The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour. Photo (c) Phelps Media Group.

The second Friday of the Ridge at Wellington's Turf Tour hosted by the International Polo Club saw a number of talented horse and rider pairs trying their hand at Chris Jones' courses. Conor Swail picked up the victory in the 1.40m Grand Prix on Dillinger, owned by Susan Grange.

The International Polo Club provided a lively backdrop for the talented show jumpers, with tennis and polo taking place on either side of the grass fields. A bit of drizzle held off some of the competitors, but the afternoon saw a strong showing once the weather brightened up.

Chris Jones, one of Canada's rising international course designers, composed two beautiful sets of courses for the second Friday of the Ridge at Wellington's Turf Tour. For ten years, Jones has been assisting some of Canada's top designers and traveled to Wellington to assist Eric Habrouck during the first week of competition at WEF. This week, Chris designed the courses for the Turf Tour with assistance from Hasbrouck.

Riders commented on the Grand Prix course, remarking on how fair it was while being technical, requiring quite a bit of rideability. Fourteen horses went on from the field of 38, making for a competitive jump-off. Riders from both rings praised his designs and are looking forward to his future work with the Turf Tour.

Conor Swail once again proved unbeatable in the $15,000 1.4m Grand Prix at The Ridge at Wellington's Turf Tour.  Last week, he claimed the top spot on Fortis Fortuna, owned by Susan and Ariel Grange. This week, he bested a field of 38 to claim victory aboard Susan Grange's Dillinger. Swail rode in the latter half of the day and posted a swift time of 36.945 seconds to top the field.

"I thought it was a very nice course today," noted Swail. "It's different from last week just for obvious reasons- it's in a different arena, so there are more open spaces and a lot more for them to look at. It's just fantastic for the young horses; it's a great education for them. There's beautiful footing and there's a bit of prize money, so if things go well you can get a check."

Samuel Parot posted a very fast time early in the day on his own Thea. Although only the fourth horse in the ring, Parot knew where he needed to make time and blazed through Jones' course. The mare Thea is extremely new to him, having only had the ride for the last two weeks since she was just imported from Germany. Last week they competed in the first stop of the Turf Tour, going clean in the first round and finishing with a rail in the jump-off. This week Parot was not afraid to try to capture the class, riding an extremely tight rollback to the last line of the jump-off course and finishing with a time of 37.297 seconds.

Beth Underhill was third on her own Viggo, finishing with a time of 38.555 seconds. Darrin Dliin, riding Susan Grange's Tennyson, finished fourth, less than a half of a second behind Underhill with a time of 38.871 seconds. Jeffery Welles rode Herbert Sambol's Broken Heart with a time of 39.635 seconds to a fifth place finish. Adolpho Franco was right on his heels and rode his own Chambery 25 to a sixth place finish in 39.757 seconds.

 

Sorce: Press release Phelps Media Group



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