Sweetnam targets World Games with young talent

Shane Sweetnam may have offloaded his top ride last year, but that does not mean he is ready to relinquish his position as a stalwart of the Irish team.

In fact, he is confident he has a ready replacement for Amaretto D’Arco, plus two up-and-coming mounts he hopes can realise their star potential. If so, a place at the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in France in the Autumn will be the reward.

“I have a few possibilities this year. It’s a young team, but my main hope lies with Eregast Van’t Kiezelhof. He jumped the nations cups in Spruce Meadows last year and had a number of good results throughout the season. He is definitely at nations cup standard and, all going well, has the capacity to reach the World Equestrian Games,” said Sweetnam.

“In fact, though, I have three horses with WEG in mind. Mimosa, a nine-year-old Swedish-bred horse, is green at the top level, but good, nonetheless. I also have a new stallion, Venturo, that I sourced in Belgium. He is in quarantine for a month and I plan to show him in the middle of February. Both need to be tested at the top level. It will be a telling year, but I believe they have the talent. Naturally, I would like to be at WEG, but a lot can happen before then,” said the Kanturk native, who is in Florida for the 12-week FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).

Indications of his youngsters’ potential won’t be long coming, with Sweetnam expecting to saddle up Mimosa for this weekend’s $50,000 Wellington Equestrian Realty two-star grand prix, while Eregast will compete in next week’s feature, having placed in two 1.45m classes last week.

The now 14-year-old stallion Amaretto D’Arco was a good servant to Sweetnam, and Ireland, but the Corkman said “the timing was right” to sell, with young US rider Katie Dinan aiming to capitalise on the horse’s experience.

“It was a hefty investment for my sponsors, Spy Coast Farm, when they bought Amaretto, but he made it to two European Championships, the Olympics and a World Equestrian Games. He was getting a bit older, though, and the sale is something that suited all parties, including Katie.”

Sweetnam is among a large contingent of Irish riders at WEF, which boasts $8m in prizemoney and has attracted some of the best to the Sunshine State.

* Ten young riders have secured bursaries to train with Irish show jumpers in the US. Seven secured the bursaries by winning competitions last year, while three were wild card selections. The bursary winners were Kelly Allen, national champion Michael Duffy from Galway, Cathal Daniels, Tom Foley, Darragh Ryan, Philip McGuane, Sophie Dalm, Stephen Moore, Hayley Dunne, and Michael Duffy from Mayo.

The trainers giving of their expertise are Darragh Kerins, Richie Moloney, Conor Swail, Cian O’Connor, Andrew Bourns, David Blake, Paul O’Shea, Shane Sweetnam, Darragh Kenny, Kevin Babington, Ronan McGuigan, and Conan Conway.

The scheme was initiated by SJI young riders committee chairperson Michael Blake, with sponsorship from Connolly’s Red Mills and Horse Sport Ireland.

* Ireland show jumping manager Robert Splaine yesterday explained the thinking behind his selection of the nations cups in France, the Netherlands and Britain to accompany Dublin as his point-gaining fixtures in this year’s Furusiyya series.

The selection was submitted to the Federation Equestre Internationale on Tuesday and Splaine said: “La Baule has been a lucky hunting ground for us and we won there two years ago. Rotterdam is on sand, which is similar to WEG; this influenced my choice, as well as the fact the arena is of similar dimensions. When it comes to Hickstead, you would expect that the form of the main players would be established and, even though it is back-to-back with Dublin, at that stage we should be able to field two strong teams. Most of the Irish riders are very familiar with Hickstead and I know they always rise to the challenge due to the traditional rivalry between ourselves and the British.”

* The first meeting of ShowjumpingIreland’s new executive takes place next Tuesday. One of the main items on the agenda will be the election of a chairman. The incumbent, Tony Hurley, last month told the Irish Examiner that he intends to seek another term.

* Shane Breen and Billy Twomey will aim on Sunday to improve their chances of making the World Cup final when then line out in Leipzig, Germany. Tipp rider Breen is in joint 24th place on the Western European League, while Corkman Twomey is joint 31st.