The Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup: Mexico is back after 78 years!
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 events: the Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup. This 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. But not before a thrilling jump-off against Germany.
The Mexican team, composed by Carlos Hank Guerreiro on H5 Shaq Attack (0/0), Patricio Pasquel on Chakkaloup PS (0/4-0), Andres Azcarraga on Contendros 2 (0/12) and Fernando Martinez Sommer con Joep (0/0), entrusted Patricio Pasquel with the final brushstroke of this Roman masterpiece. With a clear round, he outperformed Richard Vogel who had fault on the last fence.
So 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/Arete, Rubén Uriza/Hautey, and Alberto Ramos/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 (0/0) and Jörne Sprehe on Toys (0/0).
With today’s victory, Mexico repeated a success last achieved way back in 1948.
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 (4/4) and Italy fourth (8/4). The Italian quartet consisted of Giulia Martinengo Marquet with Delta del'Isle (4/4), Emanuele Camilli with Chacareno PS (0/8), Giacomo Casadei with Marbella du Chablis (4/0), and Giampiero Garofalo with Querido van 't Ruytershof (4/0).
Nations Cup Intesa Sanpaolo
