With the Paris Olympic Games very much on the horizon, the 2024 edition of CSIO Rome - Master d’Inzeo could hardly be a more exciting prospect. Last-minute testing of potential Olympic team members and riders keen to attract the eye of selectors will ensure a super-sharp edge to the competition over the five-day fixture that runs from 22 to 26 May, and which this year celebrates its 91st anniversary.

Steeped in tradition and history, CSIO Rome has long been one of the most prestigious and best loved horse shows on the international calendar and a win here is a career-defining moment for both horse and rider.

This year’s prize-fund is the biggest ever with a total of €1,006,400 on offer across ten thrilling competitions. Highlights include the €220,000 Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup on Friday 24 May and Saturday’s €110,000 Loro Piana Trophy which is followed by the always-popular Loro Piana Six-Bar later in the evening.

And then on Sunday afternoon 26 May the event reaches its climax with the one they all want to win - the €500,000 Rolex Grand Prix.

Signed up

Teams from 10 countries are already signed up for the Nations Cup including last year’s winners from Ireland. There were huge celebrations when the boys in green at last landed the trophy that had evaded them for 97 years, and Chef d’Equipe Michael Blake is sending out a formidable side once again. Daniel Coyle, Darragh Kenny, Cian O’Connor and Shane Sweetnam will all be wanting to impress with a view to Paris.

But Team Belgium also look extremely strong, the Philippaerts twins Nicola and Olivier joined by Pieter Devos, Gregory Wathelet and Zoe Conter while Sweden, all but invincible as a team in recent years, fields a side that includes Peder Fredricson, Rolf-Goran Bengtsson, Wilma Hellstrom, Petronella Andersson and Fredrik Spetz and they won’t be easily defeated.

Germany’s Kendra Claricia Brinkop, Daniel Deusser, Jorne Sprehe, Mario Stevens and Jana Wargers have a world of experience between them, and with Australia, Austria, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the USA also in the mix along with the hosts, the Nations Cup contest looks set to be a cracker.

It is six years since Team Italy posted back-to-back Nations Cup victories on their home turf following a 32-year drought, and the strong Italian selection includes Lorenzo De Luca, Giulia Martinengo Marquet, Emanuele Camilli and Giacomo Casadei who will fight long and hard to make it happen again.

The Nations Cup in Rome is never easily won however, and the battle for the 2024 title - and the great honour that goes with it - is expected to be as intense and electrifying as ever.

Success

Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs won the latest Rolex Grand Prix at Royal Windsor Horse Show in London, Great Britain two weeks ago riding Leone Jei, and he will line out again in Rome with supreme confidence following that success.

However the world number five rider will be facing a mighty challenge from Belgium’s Wathelet who finished second that day and from his Swiss compatriot and world number three Steve Guerdat who finished third partnering his 2023 European championship winning ride Dynamix de Belheme.

Another major contender for the Rolex honours will be reigning individual Olympic champion Ben Maher from Great Britain. But the Grand Prix of Rome has turned up plenty of surprises over the years and the story, as yet, is an unwritten one.

Gets underway

The competition programme gets underway on Thursday 23 May in the nearby Galoppatoio arena before the action moves to the main ring in the Piazza di Siena which lies in the beautiful Villa Borghese gardens.

A powerful ethic for conservation of the unique environment in which it is staged ensures Rome horse show has minimum impact, and of course the event is, as always, open to the public for free. Every year huge crowds of spectators enjoy watching the best horse-and-rider combinations in the world compete for some of the most coveted prizes in the sport of showjumping while sitting in the sunshine around the natural amphitheatre that has seen some of the most memorable moments of equestrian sport unfold.

And it’s all about to happen again, so don’t miss a moment of the magic of CSIO Rome - Master d’Inzeo 2024 at Piazza di Siena. There’s more history to be made and many more special moments to be savoured…..

Photo: Steve Guerdat and Venard de Cerisy - © Rolex / Peggy Schroeder