It’s a three-way divide in Loro Piana Six-Bar Thriller
Switzerland’s Bryan Balsiger, Ireland’s Seamus Hughes-Kennedy and Italy’s Giacomo Bassi shared the honours in tonight’s exciting Loro Piana Six-Bar competition to bring day three of CSIO Rome 2025 at Piazza di Siena to a close.
Just three of the 12 starters went out in the first round when the final fence stood at 1.60m, and when it was raised to 1.80m in round two there were still nine left in contention. But in third jump-off, when the line of fences was reduced from six to four and the last now stood at 1.90m, only four combinations went clear. Austria’s Max Kuhner decided to withdraw EIC Quantum Robin V so that left just three to battle it out one more time.
First to take on the new line, with the last vertical now standing at an imposing 2 metres high was Balsiger, at 27 years old already a European team gold medallist and Tokyo Olympian. However this time his 10-year-old mare PSG Starlight sliced through the final upright, so now it was down to final two to decide whether there should be one more jump-off to go.
Next was the turn of 22-year-old Irishman Seamus Hughes Kennedy who had looked remarkably relaxed at his three previous attempts with the nine-year-old gelding MHS Cosmo. And the former Young Rider European Champion looked cool and calm once again on his approach, but that 2 metre final fence hit the floor once more.
Huge buzz
Now the result lay in the hands of 33-year-old Italian Bassi who, last to go, entered the arena to a huge buzz of excitement from the spectators who were right behind the host country contender. His grey stallion Comme La Roi del Magi had been full of high jinx in the previous rounds and came down the line with the greatest of ease once again until also pushing out the final top pole to ensure it was a three-way draw at the end of the day.
Bassi was wearing a helmet camera “so there will be some fun social media content a bit later!”, he said.
Like the other two winners he was delighted with his horse who he calls Secker “because he looks like Checker!” (the horse that carried Germany’s Christian Kukuk to Olympic individual glory in Paris last summer). Secker bucked his way through every round which didn’t make his rider’s task any easier.
But as Bassi explained “he’s a little bit bouncy and always happy about what he’s doing because he gets so excited, so you have to be kind to him, not to upset him so you make sure he’s enjoying himself rather than getting silly. It’s not easy when you are trying to jump 2 metres but I think he had fun! He’s only eight years old and he was clear here on the first day in the 1.45m so I’m very, very happy!”, said the man who hails from Imola, home to Italian Formula 1 motor racing.
Class n. 9 - Six Bars LORO PIANA
