Press release from CSIO Rome - Piazza di Siena, edited by World of Showjumping

The Roman spring-weather was a treat for the large crowd that packed the stands at Villa Borghese once again for one of the most eagerly awaited competitions of the event: the CSIO5* Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup. Friday afternoon in Piazza di Siena, a new chapter in the history of this extraordinary event was written, with Mexico’s name rightfully added to the prestigious roll of honour. However, not before a thrilling jump-off against Germany.

The Mexican team, composed by Carlos Hank Guerreiro on H5 Shaq Attack (Cornet Obolensky x Kashmir van Schuttershof), Patricio Pasquel on Chakkaloup PS (Chacco-Lover x Stakkatol), Andres Azcarraga on Contendros 2 (Contendro I x Drosselklang II) and Fernando Martinez Sommer with Joep (Tangelo vd Zuuthoeve x Kojak) entrusted Pasquel and Chakkaloup PS with the final brushstroke of this Roman masterpiece in the jump-off. With a clear round, he outperformed Richard Vogel and Gangster Montdesir (Kannan x Cornet Obolensky) who had fault on the last fence.

Pasquel led his team to a second historic victory at Piazza di Siena, following the only other one achieved way back in 1948. That was also the year in which three of the winning pairs from Rome — Humberto Mariles on Arete, Rubén Uriza with Hautey, and Alberto Ramos aboard Chihuahua — won Olympic gold in both the individual and team events.

After a sensational first round in which four riders completed their course with no faults, Mexico had a mistake in the second round (0/4), as did Germany (4/0) that staged a fine comeback thanks to the flawless performances of two riders: Sophie Hinners on Iron Dames Combella (Cornet du Lys x Indoctro) and Jörne Sprehe on Toys (Toulon x Quidam de Revel) – both pairs delivered a double clear for Otto Becker’s German squad.

Everyone in the Mexican team was thrilled, starting with its chef d’equipe, Mark Laskin from Canada. "I'm not just satisfied – I'm over the moon. I usually look at my team without making comparisons, and today’s performance gives us reason to be optimistic. Right up until the final moments of the class we focused solely on ourselves. We knew that in a competition like this, anything could happen... I must admit, though, that competing against the Germans undoubtedly spurred us on to perform even better. As a coach, I do trust my team a lot. I know I can count on them every day, and today they proved that they can perform well. I expect the same commitment from them for the World Championships in Aachen, where we’ll be heading with high hopes”.

Great Britain finished third with a total team score of eigth, followed by Italy in fourth on 12 and Belgium in fifth with on 16.

With his first win at the CSIO Roma 2026, in Friday’s CSIO5* 1.55m presented by ENI, the Whitaker dynasty's success story continued with Jack Whitaker and Izara des Dames (Emerald x Calvaro Z) taking the top honours.

Jack, 24, already competed in several events in Italy before, but this is his debut at the CSIO of Rome. “I’ve collected many memories from my parents about this show but this is actually my very first time in Rome. I've competed quite a lot in Arezzo, in Gorla, and things like that but I was missing this incredible show. It’s just as beautiful as I was expecting it”.

Jack is sticking with his family tradition... The Whitakers have collected an incredible string of results at Villa Borghese and with Jack’s win on Friday, they have achieved their 20th victory in Rome.

“Today’s class was big. It was probably a bit bigger than it really needed to be today but I'm sure it was good for me. Anyway, Izara des Dames is probably my best horse at the moment. So, I was only really trying to give her another round before the Grand Prix on Sunday”.

The podium was completed by Irish youn talent Tom Wachman on Kilkenny (Cardento 933 x Guidam) and French Megane Moissonnier on Kandoo Z (Kannan x First Mate XX) in second and third respectively.