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.