Tomorrow, all eyes will be on Pala Jumping Verona, which will host, for the twenty-third consecutive year, the Longines FEI Jumping World CupTM Grand Prix presented by Kask.
Starting at 2:30 PM, the stage will be set for the thrilling Verona leg of the World Cup. Will a woman finally triumph, a rider who has never reached the top of the podium in Verona? Will the Italian athletes manage to make the national anthem echo for the first time within Fieracavalli’s Pavilion 8? The stage is set for an incredible competition. The starting list features British rider Ben Maher, last year’s Grand Prix winner and gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, Frenchman Simon Delestre, already a two-time winner and looking for an historic third win, as well as Italians Giulia Martinengo Marquet, Emanuele Gaudiano, Piergiorgio Bucci, Giacomo Casadei, Lorenzo De Luca, Alberto Zorzi, Paolo Paini, and the seasoned veteran Arnaldo Bologni.
While the champions will be battling it out on the edge of their seconds in the ring of honor, in another arena – the FISE arena – the rising stars of Italian sport will compete in the finals of the Best Rider Progetto Sport Junior Levels 1, 2, and 3 by Telepass, not forgetting the Pony category with senior levels 4 and 5. The most anticipated events, which transform Pavilion 5 into a stadium with wild cheering, are the Gran Premio delle Regioni U21 by Kep Italia and the 36th Coppa delle Regioni Pony by Goldspan. In the latter, we will see Italian Children’s Champion Giacomo Martinengo, from Veneto, compete—he is also the grandson of Italian national champion Giulia Martinengo Marquet—while in Lazio, Filippo Bracalenti and Edoardo Piccini, respectively the current junior Italian champion and junior bronze medalist, will take to the stage. Tuscany, on the other hand, boasts Tommaso Zorzi, grandson of international rider Alberto Zorzi, one of the five members of the new Jumping Verona Racing Team.