World’s best Show Jumpers in Rome for the CSIO5* Piazza di Siena

From May 23–27, the 86th CSIO5* of Rome will be held at the historic Piazza di Siena on its freshly re-grassed arena surface. And while the competition is no longer a Nations Cup qualifier for Europe’s Division 1, its prestige, beauty and the €850,000 in prize money on offer have drawn many of the top-ranked riders in the world to the Eternal City.

For Great Britain, Olympic champion Scott Brash and Louise Saywell are entered in the competition, which dates back to 1926, while Ireland’s Bertram Allen and Michael Duffy are also taking part. They are part of a star-studded field of 75 riders and 178 horses from 16 countries at the 5* level, including the Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders, Canada’s Eric Lamaze, Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, France’s Kevin Staut, Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, Italy’s Lorenzo De Luca, Portugal’s Luciana Diniz, Sweden’s Henrik Von Eckermann, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, and the United States’ Beezie Madden. The American group alone is entirely made up of champions and former World No.1s: Madden, McLain Ward, Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut and Lauren Hough.

The United States will be part of the nine-team Nations Cup competition, which was won in Rome last year for the first time in more than three decades by the home side’s De Luca and his compatriots. The full list of nations for the €250,000 event on Friday is: Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, the U.S., France, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand. Another highlight of the weekend will be the €350,000 Grand Prix Sunday, which will also feature obstacles of 1.60 m.

The Piazza di Siena is located in the Villa Borghese park, considered to be one of the city’s largest and most elegant green spaces. The site is being renovated under the supervision of the city’s Fine Arts Department, with equestrian and Olympic officials in Italy having envisioned a significant upgrading of Piazza di Siena’s original structure involving the walls and terraces beside the oval arena. The 2018 CSIO5* Piazza di Siena schedule is here and the full list of horses and riders is here.