Lorenzo de Luca produced the second Italian victory of the opening day at CSIO Rome - Master d’Inzeo 2024 with a scorching early round from Cash du Plessis that proved too good for the rest of the field in the ENI Speed competition.

Fifth of the 66 starters into the ring, the pair pinned the target time at 60.93 seconds and none of the rest could match or better that despite their best efforts as the class turned into a battle for second place.

That spot was finally filled by Belgium’s Zoe Conter and the 10-year-old mare Tombola Z, while de Luca’s compatriot, Giulia Martinengo Marquet, slotted into third with the 14-year-old gelding Scuderia 1918 Calle Deluxe.

Two riders did manage a quicker time than the eventual winners, but both Ireland’s Cian O’Connor who stopped the clock in 59.71 seconds partnering Eve d’Ouilly and Great Britain’s Ben Maher who broke the beam in 60.41 seconds with Exit Remo each had a fence down, leaving them in 23rd and 24th places respectively.

The 12-fence track took plenty of riding, with the turn from the triple bar at fence three to the double at four proving critical while the second double at fence six also proved highly influential. For some it was the long line of five obstacles from fences seven to 10 that was their undoing, but for the quickest man of the day, Ireland’s O’Connor, it was the very last oxer, jumped at speed on an angle, that defeated him.

No mistake

De Luca made no mistake however.  “It was amazing. I was at the beginning of the class but the horse is very fast and it’s so great to have him back at such a high level again. I’ve always loved him and today he showed me that he’s with me once more!”, he said.

The 14-year-old stallion picked up an injury two years ago but is coming back to his best again at last.

“He jumped his first 5* Grand Prix in Valkenswaard (The Netherlands) and was second, and then I was unlucky with him after Dublin (Ireland), he got a little injury. Then last summer I started to build him up again and now he is just amazing. I’m very happy!”, he explained.

The pair returned to great form at the Royal Windsor 5* in Great Britain earlier this month and today’s result confirmed that.

However with such a strong field coming behind him, the 37-year-old Italian star was not at all confident that he had done enough with his round so early in today’s class, although his strategy worked brilliantly in the end.

“I took a risk at the triple bar at fence three because I know I can trust him 100 percent! I didn’t think it was fast enough to be honest because the last rollback for the plank I took an extra stride. But he was very, very fast everywhere so we did it - he is naturally a very, very quick horse and I’m so happy for him!”, de Luca said.