Text © World of Showjumping

The 2022-edition of Dublin Horse Show concluded on Sunday with Swiss delight in the CSIO5* 1.60m Longines International Grand Prix of Ireland. Riding the 10-year-old Gamin van'T Naastveldhof, Switzerland's 23-year-old Edouard Schmitz spoiled the Irish party, taking his first five-star Grand Prix victory ahead of home heroes Conor Swail in second and Shane Sweetnam in third. 

Seven horse-and-rider combinations from the 40 participants cleared the first-round track set by Ireland's own Alan Wade. First to post a clear was the French talent Megane Moissonnier on the impressive Cordial (Casall x Chicago Z), who was joined in the deciding jump-off by Shane Sweetnam (IRL) on James Kann Cruz (Kannan x Cruising), Edouard Schmitz on Gamin van'T Naastveldhof (Chacco Chacco x Toulon), Laura Kraut (USA) on Confu (Contact Me x Cambridge), Edward Levy (FRA) on Uno de Cerisy (Open Up Semilly x Siego), Conor Swail on Count Me In (Count Grannus x Sherlock) and Andrew Bourns (IRL) on Sea Topblue (Chacco-Blue x Lux Z).

Moissonnier opened the jump-off with a steady clear, while Sweetnam gave it his best shot, stopping the clock on 41.92 seconds – only to be pushed down to runner-up position by Schmitz, who as number three to go crossed the finish line in 39.82 seconds. As the penultimate pair, Conor Swail and the wonderful Count Me In were hungry for another home win, but with a time of 40.29 seconds the two had to settle for the runner-up position, pushing Sweetnam to third, while Bourns took the fourth place and Moissonnier the fifth. 

"Since I stole this from two Irish riders, I understand it even more," Schmitz said about the prestige of winning the traditional Dublin Grand Prix. "I think you can feel the history there is in Dublin, and the crowd has been incredible all week. I could not have wished for a better place for my first five-star Grand Prix win! I thought I would be a bit cheeky when I went into the jump-off, and it paid off. This is what happens with riding; sometimes it goes right, sometimes it goes wrong; you just have to give it your best shot. In the jump-off, I think I had a very good turn from number one to number two, and then I managed to get the eight strides that not everyone did. The roll-back before the last oxer was really cheeky, and I have to thank my horse for this one. He has a very big canter, which is good to use in a jump-off and hopefully, this is a first of many to come." 

"My horse has been incredible all week," second placed Swail said. "It has been a great week to be an Irish showjumper and I was proud on Friday to be able to be part of that winning Aga Khan team. I am a bit disappointed being second today, which is a bad thing to say, I mean my horse has just been incredible all week and he deserved to win this more than me. It is a fabulous result for me, my horse, for all my owners and my family, for everyone involved." 

"Today, myself and Conor tried to get the Grand Prix over the line, it is a shame a Swiss guy got in the way," the third placed Sweetnam joked in the prize giving, praising the amazing crowds in Dublin for their support.