WELLINGTON, Fla.--Lillie Keenan on Fasther won the $215,000, CSI4* Grand Prix on Saturday evening, Jan. 24 during Saturday Night Lights at the Winter Equestrian Festival.
Lillie Keenan on Fasther (Photo by Sportfot)With her sights set firmly on the 2026 World Championships, Keenan, 29, beat a field that included two Olympic champions and five of the world’s top 10 over a course set by Canadian Peter Grant.
A daring rollback to the third fence and a leave-out in the final line gave Keenan the eventual win by three-tenths of a second.
Irish Olympian Shane Sweetnam on Rural Juror SCF came the closest to Keenan’s time of 40.56 seconds, finishing second in 40.87 seconds ahead of Australian Olympian Thaisa Erwin on Hialita B, third in 41.28.
“That final line was a risky moment, but I think it made the biggest difference,” said Keenan, who trains with six-time U.S. Olympian Mclain Ward.
“Fasther was the first horse that Mclain selected for me (seven years ago) and represents the important mentorship I have with him,” said Keenan. “He’s my heart horse. He has a fire inside of him; loves to jump, but he really loves to run. We struggled a lot at first with rideability, but I have grown up with him; I trust him so much, and he tries so hard for me.”
“THERE ARE moments where I can go to a fence and think I should have ridden it better, and he turns himself inside out to jump it," she said. "He does that for me. I don’t think he would do that just for anyone.”
Only four weeks into the winter circuit at WEF and Keenan has already had several impressive wins, including a CSI3* 1.50m blue on Chagrin d’Amour and a debut grand prix win with new mount Highway TN.
“Coming off of last year, I really wanted to try to ride the momentum,” said Keenan, who also won the Martha Jolicoeur, Douglas Elliman Leading Lady Rider Award for the four-star week. “I’m in an incredibly lucky position to have multiple horses that can jump at this level, but that didn’t happen by chance. I’ve planned and worked hard towards building the string. I have some older, very experienced horses, and then some young ones just stepping up. You build that over years, and I want to make the most of this moment.”
“Wellington has become my home. I showed here for the first time when I was 7 on ponies," said Keenan. "Now I’m 29 in this ring. it feels special.”
