Team USA pip France for Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup title

23 may 2025

In a thrilling competition that went right down to the wire, Laura Kraut, Lillie Keenan, Karl Cook and McLain Ward clinched the coveted Intesa Sanpaolo Nations Cup title for the USA for the sixth time in the long and distinguished history of CSIO Rome at Piazza di Siena.

Ten teams started the first round but Argentina and the United Arab Emirates didn’t make the cut into round two which turned into a mighty battle between the Americans and the French.

It seemed it could go either way, with double-clears from both pathfinder Nina Mallevaey and Nikka vd Bisschop and Antoine Ermann and Floyd des Pres underpinning the strong French effort that left them with a final total of eight faults. But in the end Team USA clinched the top step of the podium when Ward’s second clear left them carrying just four faults at the end of the day.

As US Chef d’Equipe said afterwards, it was no walk-in-the-park.

A tough slog

“It was a tough slog from the very beginning”, he pointed out. “We drew first in the order and we were hoping that would stay true in the end but it certainly wasn’t easy. After the first round we knew what we had to do in the second round, and as that was unfolding we weren’t really creating much of a gap so we were prepared for a jump-off - but one way or another we were going to try to win this thing!”

This was the sixth victory for America in the long history of this epic show, but it is 16 years since their last win in 2009 when Kraut was on the team with Cedric.

Ward, a member of the winning team in 1997, talked about today’s 12-fence track that proved quite a challenge. “Uliano (Vezzani) as a course designer always allows us to ride, it’s not about tricks and it’s not hiding jumps. But you had some bold fences, the wall, the triple out of the corner with the chariot in the way - that’s a little bit of a treat here! And then the last line was shifting away from the side, very delicate and that’s always a challenge. This is Rome, an iconic event, and it should be difficult”, he pointed out.

He was delighted by the fault-free day for his new ride, Imperial HBF. “This is actually my first 1.60m course with him, I just got him in February, Tim Gredley did an incredible job bringing this horse to the highest levels of the sport”, he pointed out.

And he was also delighted that his pupil Lillie Keenan followed suit with her double-clear performance. He was completely taken aback however when she told the story of how Kick On got his nickname, Ken. “I got him around my 20th birthday when the Barbie movie was coming out and it just seemed right!”, she explained.

On a serious note however she knows she has a real talent in the 11-year-old stallion.

“He’s really gone from strength to strength, I took him to the World Cup Finals not long ago and that was at that stage the biggest thing he’d ever seen, and really going into today he rose to the occasion and I’m so proud of him!”, she said.

No stranger to success

Karl Cook is no stranger to success at Piazza di Siena after winning last year’s Rolex Grand Prix with Caracole de la Roque but his confidence in the mare is more obvious now than it was back then.

“Between last year and this year it’s completely different. When I was here last year I more or less had no expectations. I remember in the jump-off last year I just decided whatever was about to happen was just going to happen. That kicked off my whole summer - without this show last year the rest of the summer would not have happened!”, said the man who went on to compete the mare at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games alongside Kraut, Ward and Kent Farrington, taking team silver.

Kraut said that although she had a good day, Bisquetta “took a little look at the wall (fence 3) which surprised me, normally she’s super-brave, so I rode her very strong and that made her very strong, so I think that first fence in the middle of the combination (fence 4) came from that. She finished very well and I thought the second round she jumped beautifully. Maybe I was a little free to the plank (fence 9) and she lightly touched it. I could have been better today but I had great team-mates to back me up and I’m excited about Sunday!”, she said.

She was referring to Sunday’s Rolex Grand Prix in which Bisquetta will line out again. Cook will bring Caracole back to defend the title he won last year while Ward and Keenan will bring out Ilex and Argan de Beliard.