December 16, 2024 
A crisis of confidence is not something one usually associates with Irish rider Conor Swail.
After all, he’s the man who can lose his bridle and still finish fourth in a speed round.
Still, the anchor rider for the Trelawny Trailblazers admits he was feeling a little more heat than usual going into the 2024 MLSJ $1M CabanaCoast Team Finale this weekend at Desert International Horse Park (DIHP).
“I jumped [My Lady Lavista] last night, and it didn’t go as planned,” said Swail of the 10-year-old Holsteiner who finished on 16 faults in the $200,000 MLSJ FEI 5* Classic on Friday. “I wasn’t just brimming with confidence, but I trusted the mare.
“I knew I needed a clear round to make sure we were going to go through [to the second round]. Lady felt so comfortable [tonight], and I was clear with my plan and how to ride her. Everything came up perfectly.”
It’s a performance one-eighty that is especially impressive given that My Lady Lavista only joined Swail’s string in April. The pair jumped clear in the first round alongside Daniel Bluman (ISR), who ultimately put up a double-clear for the Trailblazers with the 9-year-old Corbie V.V. Lillie Keenan (USA) and Kick On had eight down in the first round before rallying to jump clear in the second.
“This season, I had an opportunity to jump a younger horse; Kick On is a horse that has only started jumping this level. I used these events to develop my partnership with him, and obviously, he ended up being a star for these types of classes,” Keenan said.
“It really was a matter of growing by doing, and obviously riding amongst these riders, you want to always give your best because every event we have a chance to win.”
The final, gold medal round pitted Swail against the Archers’ Patricio Pasquel (MEX), with Swail emerging victorious on a time of 43.63 seconds. The Archers (also comprised of Harry Charles and Aaron Vale) were second with Pasquel’s time of 45.11; the Northern Lights (Vanessa Mannix, Abdulrahman Alrajhi, and Sean Jobin) took third.
The Trailblazers finished the year with a winning 136 points. Second place in the overall standings with 122 points went to the home team, the DIHP Roadrunners. Rounding out the top three and taking home a piece of the $500,000 season-end bonus money was Maccabi United on 115 points.
This is the second consecutive win for the Trailblazers, who sat third in the overall standings leading up to the Final—making this victory all the more exciting for Swail.
“Last year, we won it very convincingly, it was basically over by this week. So I think it was very good for the League that there were maybe four teams, if not five teams, that could have won tonight.”
In a twist of fate, Swail—who was also awarded the 2024 MVP title and topped the 2024 MLSJ Individual standings—was not even supposed to be at DIHP this weekend, instead being slated to compete in CHI Geneva’s coveted Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final. An airline malfunction quashed those hopes early last week, with Martin Fuchs of Switzerland being called up to take Swail’s place.
Ironically, Fuchs won the Rolex IJRC Top 10 Final, while Swail helped clinch the season title for the Trelawny Trailblazers in California. “For me, I’m meant to be here this week,” Swain reflected after the class. No doubt his team would agree.
