Sunday morning got off to an exciting start at Messukeskus with the CSI 5* 145 presented by Messukeskus class.
A random draw had placed Denis Lynch—the two-time winner of the previous days’ time trial classes—and his horse Katja near the front of the starting lineup. Denis put Katja into overdrive right from the first few meters, resulting in a fantastic clear round with a fast base time of 57.56 seconds.
This time seemed completely unbeatable until Finland’s Jone Illi entered the course on his horse Caprivi 23. This pair, too, had some great performances under their belt from this weekend, and Jone clearly set his sights on winning the class right from the very first jump.
The Messukeskus crowd held its breath as Jone made a tight turn and Caprivi 23 performed brilliantly, clearing the jump flawlessly. After clearing the final obstacle, the arena erupted in wild cheers as Jone’s time of 56.57 was ultimately enough to secure the victory by a margin of one second.
“What an incredible feeling! An absolutely amazing course—everything went exactly as planned. The horse jumped incredibly well,” Jone says right after the class.
“There’s an incredible atmosphere at the Messukeskus. It feels like the horse starts jumping better when there’s a little encouragement, and it gives me a lot of confidence, too. I love being here,” she continues.
When asked about his future plans, Jone says that the timelines are still up in the air.
“My boss, Markus (Beerbaum), has planned it so that my competitions will end in Helsinki. I’m now waiting to receive the next list.”
Course designer Guilherme Jorge had laid out a course where it was possible to shave several seconds off the time with tight turns and short approaches. However, the tight turns also made it easy to make mistakes.
Denis Lynch, who finished second in the class, shared his thoughts after the race.
“On this course, your horse needs to be rideable and responsive. I didn’t quite manage to turn properly at the second-to-last jump, and that’s the difference between first and second place.” Denis also praises the conditions, courses, and audience at Messukeskus.
Finland’s Anni Hjerpe, riding her horse Callboy, performed brilliantly and rode a clear round, but her time wasn’t quite fast enough to reach the top. Anni finished in 9th place.
The other Finnish competitors also performed well, even though a few unfortunate individual slip-ups cost them the chance to finish at the very top.
Results
International CSI 5* 145 presented by Messukeskus, speed riding . Started 31st, finished 13th.
1) Jone Illi – Caprivi 23, FIN 0/56.57
2) Denis Lynch – Katja, IRL 0/57.56
3) Johanna Beckmann – Alphajet DB, GER 0/60.20,
… 9) Anni Hjerpe – Callboy, FIN 0/64.53
… 15) Aida Hämäläinen – Hurby, FIN 4/60.69
… 20) Jasmin Seppälä-Geerink – Chappe, FIN 4/71.36
… 22) Marika Rättö – Stolzenburg E, FIN 4/74.74
Full results: LINK
