Conor Swail & Count Me In Climb to the Top of the Podium in the $40,000 FarmVet Open Classic

By Jumper News on 2025-03-11

Thermal, California, United States – March 09, 2025 – Course designer John Doyle set a challenging track for Sunday’s $40,000 FarmVet Open Classic – 1.45m at the Desert International Horse Park, but it proved to be no match for Conor Swail (IRL) and Count Me In.

As Swail and “Crosby” gear up for the the CSI 4* during the tenth week of the Desert Circuit competition, they bested a 45-horse field to close out Desert Circuit 9 with a win.

“I thought I just needed to give him a few rounds [this week],” said Swail of his plan to jump Sunday’s class with the 18-year-old Hanoverian gelding, owned by Sandy Lupton and Mannon Farm. “These national classes are great to be able to jump your horses at a good standard. I was very happy.”

Swail had good reason to be happy. He was one of only four riders to jump fault-free in the first round in the Grand Prix Arena, and he was ultimately the only rider to produce a double clear effort.

“[Jos Verlooy went first] and things didn’t go the way he wanted, so he came out,” said Swail of the first pair to jump-off, Verlooy and Quality Touch L3B. “Then [Maddee Morley and Champions Legue] went in and had a few fences down, so it was a bit strange going in, and you have 12 faults (penalty-points) to beat!”

Swail continued, “At the same time, I suppose, I knew Amanda [Gomez] was coming last, and her horse has won a lot. It’s very, very quick. So, I still had to give her something to think about. I think I had a nice round. I didn’t go too crazy. I just wanted to put a nice round in that she would have to go a little bit and hopefully there would be a mistake.”

That proved to be exactly what happened, as Verlooy and Quality Touch L3B took home fourth, Maddee Morley (USA) and Champions Legue finished in third on 12 penalty-points, and Amanda Gomez (USA) and Charly-Ann earned second place with just one rail down for four penalty-points.