Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam added his name to the American Gold Cup for the second time Sunday. Riding his Paris Olympic mount James Kann Cruz, he raced to the win in the $340,000 CSI5* to cap the final week of Traverse City Horse Shows (Michigan). 

In front of an enthusiastic local crowd, Sweetnam and the 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Kannan—CSF Telly Cruz, Cruising) he co-owns with Gizmo Partners LLC were last of nine pairs to jump clear in the opening round of the Cedric Longis (France)-designed course. Returning as the final challenger in the jump-off, Sweetnam put “Gizmo’s” massive stride and scope to the test to eclipse fellow Irishman Conor Swail by four-tenths of a second. 

“[The American Gold Cup] is one of the biggest grand prix in America, if not the biggest,” said Sweetnam, who also won the title in 2022. “I’m lucky to have a great horse. Conor really set the bar, and then I had to take a risk as well, and I got away with it.”

Crossing the final timers in 39.54 seconds, Sweetnam pipped Swail, who settled for second aboard Casturano in 39.91 seconds. 

“Obviously, the two boys behind me were going to try to beat me, and I needed to put a bit of pressure on them. Casturano hasn’t done that many five-star grand prix,” Swail said of the 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by Conall Murray. 

Michael Morrissey climbed atop the podium in third riding Incento S.A., an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Ash Atkinson. The pair is a new match, and the American Gold Cup was a lofty goal set not long before the class.

“I felt like I’ve won the class being on the podium,” Morrissey said after crossing the timers in 44.32 seconds. “A couple days ago I wasn’t planning on jumping this class. I wasn’t even planning on jumping a five-star until a couple of weeks ago, and wasn’t riding this horse until three weeks ago, so it’s been a dream.

“My goal was to try to go double-clear and hope that all these fast, top-10 world ranking guys would chase each other and knock the jumps down,” he continued. “Every time we jump bigger, the horse jumps better, so I said we would see what we got. I really wanted to jump the American Gold Cup because it’s a special class for me and my family [the family runs Traverse City Horse Shows], and I didn’t expect to be sitting here, but it’s really nice.”

After competing at the Paris Olympics, Sweetnam has been gauging Gizmo’s schedule, which came to a peak in Traverse City. 

Watch Sweetnam’s winning jump-off round, courtesy of Major League Show Jumping:

“He’s an incredible horse; if I’m riding well enough, he always has a chance,” he said. “I’m very lucky to have him, and hopefully I can have a few more Gold Cups.

“I used to come here 15 or 16 years ago, and it’s grown and grown, and the public have become more knowledgeable in the area as well,” he said of his time in Traverse City. “These crowds are great. They know what’s happening; they know when to cheer or not to cheer, and luckily for us the show jumping is growing here all the time.”

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