Shane Sweetnam first winner of WEF week seven

Shane Sweetnam and Little Emir.
By sportfot.com

Ireland's Shane Sweetnam gained victory in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m (23 February 2011) with Spy Coast Farm's Little Emir to open week seven of competition at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF).

The class had 37 entries, who competed over a course designed by Olaf Petersen Jnr of Germany. Eleven were clear in the first round to advance to the jump-off and eight of those were double clear.

Shane and Little Emir went fast around a jump to turn back to a combination, while others took a more difficult inside turn.

"I had to go around and went fast around there. The inside turn didn't seem to make up time," said Shane. "I wasn't sure if it would be the right thing, but I just kept going."

It paid off for them as they finished the shortened course in 37.49 seconds for the win, just ahead of Mexico's Enrique Gonzalez (Katina) in 37.86 seconds in second place and Pablo Barrios (Costa) of Venezuela in third.

 Little Emir, a 13-year-old German-bred gelding, has been one of Shane's most solid performers. They won a 1.50m classic together at last year's WEF, were second in the Palm Beach Derby and were fifth in the big La Baule, France. Unfortunately at La Baule, Little Emir was injured and then out for most of the year.

Bouncing back
"He's been back jumping two months," Shane said. "This was his first proper class since he's been back, so it's nice to get the win. He's naturally a fast horse. He covers ground quick and he's quick in the air. I was going fast, as fast as I could probably go."

Now that Little Emir is back in the showring, Shane is going to carefully choose his competition schedule.

"I'm very happy to have him back," said Shane. "Once he's fit and doing well, I can pick classes for him.

"He's been a very important horse for me through the years. When he first came, he hadn't really done the bigger level. He was my first real Sunday horse down here. I know him very, very well. The first year we were here he placed, he was clear in the Nations Cup, did a lot of great things. Ever since, you know what you're going to get with him. He tries really hard. He's very consistent. He's got a big heart and he's very smart. Maybe too smart sometimes."

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