Rome, Italy—May 26
The American national anthem rang out across Piazza di Siena this afternoon when McLain Ward scorched home to win the 1.50-meter jump-off class with HH Carlos Z. With 15 clears in the first round the jump-off was a fast one, and the final standings boasted a list of competitors out of the very top drawer of the sport on the first day of the Rome CSIO5*.
Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca filled the runner-up position with Balou de Coeur Joye while world No. 1 rider, Simon Delestre from France, slotted into third with Utah D’Alguilly. Belgium’s Francois Mathy Jr steered Casanova de L”Herse into fourth while World and European individual and team gold medallist, Jeroen Dubbeldam, finished fifth with Carusso la Silla.
Ward knows exactly which buttons to push when it comes to his 14-year-old gelding. “This was a great result for us on the first day. Carlos is a horse confirmed at this level, he’s a big jumper and he’s good in these kind of classes—he’s really fast,” the American rider explained.
He plans to compete HH Azur for the U.S. team in tomorrow’s Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ presented by Longines.
Ward joked that he is feeling “a bit old” because he first competed at Piazza di Siena 23 years ago, in 1993. He loves coming back every time. “I know Rome well and I like it a lot, the atmosphere and the beauty of the place is very special. I usually travel over a day early so I can enjoy being here,” said the New Yorker.
Other U.S. starters in the class included: Beezie Madden on Cortes ‘C’, who placed seventh with a clean jump-off round three seconds slower then Ward’s; Laura Kraut, who placed 18th with Zeremonie with a single time fault in the first round; and Kent Farrington, who was 23rd with 4 faults in Round 1.
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Lorenzo de Luca talked about the 10-year-old stallion Balou de Coeur Joye who he started riding in early 2015 after he began working at Stephex Stables in Belgium. “He’s very consistent, competitive and coming along well,” the Italian rider said. “No-one thought he would reach this level.”
Asked how it feels to watch his former ride, Elky van het Indihof HDC, being ridden by Frenchman Kevin Staut this week, de Luca responded, “the objective of a training stables is to sell horses on, so to see one that started with me [competing at this level] means I did a good job and I’m proud of that!” He pointed out that he has a great group of talented horses in his string, and he’s looking forward to competing with Ensor de Litrange in tomorrow’s Nations Cup. “Ensor is a horse that suits me well, he’s intelligent and reliable which is exactly what you need for a team competition,” he said.
In the first class of the day, a 1.45-meter jump-off class won by Gianni Govini of Italy on Bobolensky, Kent Farrington and Beezie Madden placed 19th and 20th on Creedance and Breitling S with time faults in the jump-off. Callan Solem jumped clear in Round 1 with VDL Wizard, then chose not to jump off. Ward and HH Azur had 1 time fault in the first round.
Also, in a 1.50-meter speed class, Farrington rode Voyeur to 1 time fault in the speed round to take 29th.
The Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup of Rome starts at 3:45 p.m. local time, which is 9:45 a.m. EST, and the U.S. team drew second in the order of go.
Find course plans, orders of go and full results on the Rome CSIO website.
