Shane Sweetnam earns brilliant win in Kentucky

Cork's Shane Sweetnam and the Irish-bred gelding James Kann Cruz enhanced their reputation as one of the top combinations in world show jumping by taking victory in Saturday night's Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Grand Prix at Lexington, Kentucky.

It was a first ever World Cup win for Sweetnam and came after an 11-horse jump-off.

James Kann Cruz (ISH), bred in Co Galway by Patrick Connolly, was in sensational form, crossing the line clear in 33.41 seconds to take the top prize of $74,580 (€69,500).

Defending champion Daniel Bluman (ISR) finished second with Gemma W, marking Bluman's third consecutive year on the podium in the National Horse Show's feature class.

Devin Ryan (USA) was third with Eddie Blue, after the pair held the same position a week ago in Washington.

Galway's Andrew Bourns also made it into the jump-off aboard another Irish-bred, Sea Topblue (ISH), with two fences down against the clock leaving them in 10th place at the finish.

The win for Sweetnam was made all the sweeter as he has spent much of his time living in Lexington, directly adjacent to the Kentucky Horse Park, since moving from Ireland to the United States.

"To win this class is a big deal. For me, it was always one of the ones I wanted to win," he said afterwards.

Sweetnam caught plenty of air in the first round, as James Kann Cruz showed off his brilliant power and scope. In the jump-off, that could have cost valuable time on the clock, but it also allowed Sweetnam to take more risks in his track.

The pair returned fourth in an 11-horse jump-off and set themselves apart with a pair of left-out strides and a bold turn back to the combination towards the end of the course. When James Kann Cruz slipped, it left the horse not even a stride to judge the