A perfect round under pressure–which is the trademark of anchor rider McLain Ward–avoided a jump-off and clinched the first U.S. victory since 2009 in the Rome Nations Cup on Friday.
McLain Ward and Imperial in the midst of one of the world’s most beautiful venues.
Aboard his newest mount, Imperial HBF, McLain’s performance in the 5-star Nations Cup Intesa San Paolo assured America its 4 penalty score could hold off the French team, which had to settle for second on 8 penalties.
After the first round over the course designed by Uliano Vezzani on the grass field of the scenic Piazza di Siena, the U.S. was tied on 4 faults with France and Germany. But the second time around, the latter dropped to fourth behind the home team, Italy, which claimed third place on the podium with 20 penalties.
McLain, who took over the ride on Imperial in February from Great Britain’s Tim Gredley, was double clear, as was his teammate and protege Lillie Keenan aboard Kick On. Laura Kraut, who was on the 2009 team with Cedric, dropped a rail on each trip with Bisquetta. Karl Cook had a rail in the first round with his Olympic team silver medal mount, Caracole de la Roque, but was fault-free on his second go to help secure the USA’s sixth victory in the history of the class.
After lifting the silver trophy above his head, U.S. Coach Robert Ridland noted his riders have been on a real winning streak.
U.S. Coach Robert Ridland and the trophy, with team members McLain Ward, Laura Kraut, Lillie Keenan and Karl Cook.
“Three in a row sounds pretty good,” he said with a grin, referring to team victories this spring at the Longines FEI League of Nations in Ocala and the Nations Cup in Wellington, Fla.
He also pointed out that not only McLain, but also Laura and Lillie were on horses they had never ridden previously in a Nations Cup. Karl was the lone rider who had Cup experience with the mare he rode Friday.
The Cup “was a tough slog from the very beginning,” Robert continued.
“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!”
Mclain, a member of the winning team in 1997, noted that Vezzani’s style of course designing “always allows us to ride, it’s not about tricks and it’s not hiding jumps. But you had some bold fences, the wall (centered with a statue of a wolf nursing Rome’s founders, Romulus and Remus), the triple out of the corner with the chariot in the way. 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 added.
Not only had he not jumped a Nations Cup previously with Imperial, this was his first 1.60 meter class with him.
“Tim Gredley did an incredible job bringing this horse to the highest levels of the sport”, he pointed out.
And he was delighted that his pupil, Lillie Keenan, was the other double-clear. He was surprised, however, when she told the story of how Kick On received his barn name of Ken.
“I got him around my twentieth birthday, when the Barbie movie was coming out and it just seemed right,” she explained. (For those who don’t know, Barbie’s boyfriend was Ken.)
She went on to say how well he is evolving.
“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.
Karl Cook, who won the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome with Cara in 2024, said, “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 Karl, for whom Rome was a precursor to his Olympic experience.
Laura noted that 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.” The top element went down as a result.
“I could have been better today, but I had great teammates to back me up and I’m excited about Sunday,” she said. Laura will ride Bisquetta in the Rolex Grand Prix while Karl tries for two in a row with Cara. McLain will ride his Olympic horse, Ilex, while Lillie has entered Argan de Beliard.
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