The parade of polo horses opened the world’s most beautiful show jumping competition, the one on the grass and under the pines and plane trees of Villa Borghese that until Sunday will hold court between the Galoppatoio and Piazza di Siena in Rome. The official start was given shortly afterwards, right in Piazza di Siena, by the music of Puccini with a concert “Opera Italiana is in the Air” directed by Alvise Casellati. The equestrian competition has a prize pool that exceeds one million euros; Thursday is a “run-in” day for everyone, competitors and organizers alike; Friday is the highlight day, that of the Nations Cup. Italy has already selected the five possible Azzurri, which then CT Marco Porro will have to “cut” to four, as many as the race format provides. They are one woman and four men, since equestrianism is one of the few truly “equal” sports. She is the reigning Italian champion, Giulia Martinengo Marquet, and she was already part of the 2018-winning Italy, when she ranked fourth as Italian amazon after Nathalie Perrone, Giulia Serventi and Lalla Novo. The four riders are Luca Marziani, Lorenzo De Luca, Giacomo Casadei, (22), and Hamburg-based Roman Emanuele Camilli, who won the individual pass for Italy to Paris 2024 riding Odense Odevelt. Taking part in the Cup are 10 nations, among the most titled in the equestrian field: Australia, Austria, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates (the novelty, yet the horse’s tradition is in Arab culture), Germany, Ireland, Mexico, the United States, Switzerland and, of course, Italy. The riders and amazons will be 81, while the horses are more than 200.