Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann and the amazing King Edward (ph. FEI/Leanjo De Koster) will be the headline act when the 90th anniversary CSIO Rome - Master d’Inzeo gets underway at the beautiful Piazza di Siena next week. However the horse and rider partnership who have swept all before them in recent years will face plenty of tough opposition during the 2023 fixture that will run from 25 to 28 May.

Amongst the star-studded field of 81 riders from 18 different countries are four of the top five in the current world rankings including von Eckermann who continues to hold the number one slot, on-form flying Frenchman Julien Epaillard who lies second, double European medallist Martin Fuchs from Switzerland who sits in fourth place and Dutchman Harrie Smolders whose sheer consistency leaves him in fifth. Also lining out will be reigning Olympic champion Ben Maher from Great Britain.

Last month Von Eckermann added the coveted World Cup title to the team gold he won at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the team and individual gold he secured at last summer’s FEI Jumping World Championships in Denmark.He’s clearly on a roll, and he already knows what it is to be a winner at arguably the most iconic horse show in the world.