JOHN McEntee became the second Irish rider to win a leg of the FEI Jumping Ponies Trophy this season when he landed victory in the third and final qualifying round at Stuttgart last Saturday.

The 16-year-old rode his European Championship mount Little Smithe to victory in a competitive class at the venue, where there was FEI World Cup jumping and dressage action.

Some 21 combinations started over the 1.30m track and nine made it through to the jump-off. Just four of those produced a second clear against the clock, and McEntee, last into the arena, saved the best for last.

In front of a huge crowd and incredible atmosphere, he guided Sandra Duffy’s nine-year-old Irish Sport Horse to the quickest clear round in 35.06 seconds to claim victory, relegating Britain’s Claudia Moore and Elando van de Roshoeve to second place (0/0 36.34).

McEntee’s plan was to go as fast as possible and hope it would be good enough to take the top prize. “I didn’t know what the other’s times were. I just knew that I had to go fast,” said McEntee, who is into his last few weeks as a pony rider.

Rhys Williams almost made it an Irish one-two aboard K-Little Hero d’18. The pair posted the second fastest time of the day in 35.17 seconds, but sadly rolled the last fence to finish with four faults in fifth place.

Both Williams and McEntee finished the series with 24 points in third place and qualify for the final in Mechelen, Belgium, just after Christmas. Alex Finney won the opening round in Herning, Denmark and sits in sixth place with 20 points.

Germany’s head coach for the pony division, Karl Brocks, praised the “super crowd” in Stuttgart as well as the performances of the top three competitors. “Their riding is on a par with the seniors,” he said.