Shane Sweetnam's Risk is Rewarded with a CSI5* Win at WEC Ocala

Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam rode to victory in the $62,500 Winning Round CSI5*-W class with Coriaan van Klapscheut Z on Friday at the World Equestrian Center (WEC) in Ocala.

Sweetnam's jump-off plan

“I wanted to win, but it was hard to gauge what needed to be done to win,” said Sweetnam of the jump-off course. “There was a turn to the second-to-last jump, which I wasn’t in love with. I sort of took a gamble there to go around and be fast, then do one less stride to the last jump. It worked out well. It was just a little bit of an awkward jump-off, so I wasn’t sure it would be enough. Thankfully, it was."

Sweetnam's high expectations of Coriaan

“He was still quite green last year, but got some really good results all year,” Sweetnam said of the 10-year-old Zangersheide gelding by Comme Il Faut x Lord Z. “The end of last year, he won a good grand prix, and then another at his last show, so now we expect a lot from him.”

Rounding out the top three

Another Olympian, world No. 10 McLain Ward of the U.S., piloted the 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Lestro vd Valckenborg (Stakkato Gold x Animo) to a runner-up spot in the 1.50-meter class.

Riders represented five different countries in the top five spots, with Brazil's Stephanie Macieira and the 11-year-old Zangersheide mare Toulouse van't Prinsenveld Z (Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve x Carabas van de Wateringhoeve) taking third place.

Of 33 entries, 12 were clear. With the Winning Round format, the top 10 returned for the second round, and the top three were the only double clears in the class presented by Mars Equestrian.

Germany's Richard Vogel, who was last in the order of go in the winning round and rode the fastest, taking the inside turn to the penultimate jump that most others did not, ended in fourth place with a knockdown early in the course.

Sweetnam, the world No. 11, started riding Coriaan in FEI classes a year ago. They now have 18 top-five FEI finishes, including a four-star grand prix win two weeks ago.

Sweetnam had a good day in the arena on Friday the 13th, as he was second with Balou H in the class prior - the $32,000 CSI2* Wild Horse Refuge Grand Prix Qualifier.

Watch Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Ocala HERE on ClipMyHorse.TV.

Top Eight Results

1 Shane Sweetnam (Ireland) - CORIAAN VAN KLAPSCHEUT Z - 0/35.80

2 McLain Ward (USA) - LESTRO VD VALCKENBORG - 0/37.22

3 Stephanie Macieira (Brazil) - TOULOUSE VAN'T PRINSENVELD Z - 0/38.48

4 Richard Vogel (Germany) - MICHAEL JACKSON W - 4/35.55

5 Tanimara María Macari Carrillo (Mexico) - QUENALA T - 4/36.83

6 Jacob Pope (USA) - JECIBELLE - 4/38.41

7 Scott Keach (Australia) - HAVANE DE CUVRY - 4/38.71

8 Elena Haas (USA) - CASINO ROYAL Z - 4/39.46

Portions of this article are an edited version of a WEC Ocala press release.

Photo credit: Andrew Ryback Photography