FEI Nations Cup: Third Stop in Rome

With the European Championships (in Gothenburg, Sweden in August) and the Nations Cup Final (in Barcelona at the end of September) in their sights, the elite riders present in the Eternal City this weekend are looking to step up their game. Rome is one of the most popular stops on the Nations Cup circuit, with a tantalizing amount of prize money on offer, and pressure will be on France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain — all trying to score points in the overall standings in their qualifying division, which France leads at the moment. The flagship event, the Nations Cup, won last year by Great Britain, is actually taking place at the time of publication, Friday afternoon in Italy. The 5* Grand Prix, which last year’s winner McLain Ward is not back to defend, will for its part be held Sunday at 3:15 p.m. local time. A full recap will follow after the competition.

Despite a notable absence of German riders, all at home at the CSI5* in Hamburg this weekend, the field of competitors in Rome is nonetheless up there with the most prestigious of the season. Rio individual bronze medallist and World No.4 Eric Lamaze of Canada is leading a squad of his compatriots (while another group battles for points back in Canada this weekend, in a separate qualifier). Italy, on home soil, is naturally bringing out some big guns. One of the leaders of the Italian team, Piergiorgio Bucci, will be riding his elegant Casallo Z. Lorenzo de Luca, in fantastic form so far this season, is also in Rome, with notably Ensor de Litrange LXII. For the Netherlands, the spotlight will be on European and World champion Jeroen Dubbeldam, who is taking to the course with the trusty SFN Zenith.

For Ireland, Shane Breen, Paul Kennedy, Mark McCauley, Ryan Thomas and Shane Sweetnam (with Chaqui Z and others) are all in town, with the Emerald Isle currently sitting in fifth spot in the division after competing in only one of thefirst two competitions, in La Baule, France. Great Britain’s Michael Whitaker is equally at ready for action at the beautiful jumping site in the park of Rome’s villa Borghese.

Last but definitely not least, current Division 1 leaders France have three of their four Olympic champion pairs in Rome: Kevin Staut with Rêveur de Hurtebise*HDC, Roger-Yves Bost with Sydney Une Prince, Philippe Rozier with Rahotep de Toscane, and Pénélope Leprevost with Vagabond de la Pomme. Mathieu Billot was expected to be their reserve rider with Shiva d’Amaury.