{"id":21357,"date":"2026-02-28T00:19:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T22:19:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/uncategorized-fi\/150-cm-presented-by-finnfoam-to-garofalo\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:58:05","slug":"150-cm-presented-by-finnfoam-to-garofalo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/uncategorized\/150-cm-presented-by-finnfoam-to-garofalo\/","title":{"rendered":"150 cm, presented by Finnfoam to Garofalo"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Friday evening concluded with the highly anticipated 150 cm class presented by Finnfoam, which was also a Longines ranking class. The top ten from the first round advanced to the jump-off. One of them was Robert Whitaker from the UK, who had previously enjoyed great success in Helsinki, riding Gentlemen vh Veldhof. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe horse was amazing, and I\u2019m happy with it\u2014I couldn\u2019t have asked for more. I would have taken one less stride at the last jump, but it didn\u2019t work out that way. The horse jumped beautifully; I can\u2019t complain. If the weekend continues like this, I\u2019ll be feeling good about it.\u201d Whitaker described his feelings after the jump-off.<\/p>\n\n

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Robert Whitaker and Equine America Gentlemen vh Veldhof. Photo by Aino Tervonen. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Denis Lynch, the winner of the day’s 145-cm class\u2014this time riding Vistogrand\u2014advanced to the jump-off, as did Sweden’s Marcus Westergren and Qualando de Carmel.<\/p>\n\n

The rematch showcased elite athletics at its finest, as the top ten in the division went head-to-head. The tension in the stands was palpable. The crowd was fully immersed in the thrill of the competition as they cheered their favorites on to victory. The competitors took calculated risks and relished the excitement of the large arena. <\/p>\n\n

Oda Charlotte Lyngvaer, who started fifth on her horse Carabella vd Neyen Z, briefly took the lead with a time of 39.79, but Giampiero Garofalo on his horse Lambrusco immediately posted a faster time. He also delivered a flawless performance with a time of 38.57, just slightly faster. Robert Whitaker, who started last in the class, kept the tension high right up until the very end of the class, finishing just one hundredth of a second behind the class winner, Garofalo! <\/p>\n\n

\u201cAll in all, it was a fair course, and this horse\u2019s first 150-course, so I\u2019d say it was a perfect performance\u2014everything went exactly as we\u2019d planned. The arena was perfect, and this was a great start to the weekend. I\u2019m confident about the rest of the weekend,\u201d said Giampiero Garofalo, the class winner, summing up his feelings immediately after the victory lap. <\/p>\n\n

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Giampiero Garofalo and Lambrusco. Photo by Aino Tervonen. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink and Kerel van het Sterrebos suffered an unfortunate fall at the second-to-last obstacle on the basic course and finished in 24th place. <\/p>\n\n

Denis Lynch and Katja kicked off the competition with a 145-point victory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

In the five-star 145 cm \u201cpresented by H\u00f6\u00f6ks\u201d speed riding class, Finland\u2019s top riders went head-to-head with international competitors. The top riders demonstrated their skills on a technically challenging course at Messukeskus\u2019s new international arena. The atmosphere was electric in the nearly sold-out stands, and the riders\u2019 performances provided an outstanding display of elite sports. <\/p>\n\n

Dutch rider Mans Thjissen, riding Nero Z, set out clearly determined to win and posted an outstanding qualifying time right from the start of the competition. He remained in the lead for nearly the entire competition, until, in the very final moments, Ireland\u2019s Denis Lynch and Katja clinched the victory with their performance. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cKatja felt really good on the track. She\u2019s very fast and keeps up a brisk pace. I\u2019m really happy with that today. The organizers get full marks for this revamped event. Everything under one roof\u2014this is fantastic, well done,\u201d Lynch said, describing her feelings about the track after her run. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cFor the rest of the week, I\u2019ll take it one class at a time and try to do my best in each one. The important classes are tomorrow\u2019s Grand Prix and the World Cup on Sunday,\u201d the class winner continued, speaking about his expectations. <\/p>\n\n

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Denis Lynch and Katja. Photo by Iita-Maria Ahtiainen. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

European champion Kevin Staut, ranked 27th in the Longines rankings, placed third in the class with his horse Kannonqulla.<\/p>\n\n

The Finnish riders in the class were Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink on Attention Z, Jone Illi on Celtas Quillian, and Petra Heikkinen on Oechie-K, who went head-to-head with, for example, Geir Gulliks, who competed in Helsinki 40-years ago in Helsinki and Ebba Kewenter, who had won the 5* class earlier that Friday.<\/p>\n\n

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Geir Gulliksen and his hobby horse. Photo by Iita-Maria Ahtiainen. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Petra Heikkinen, riding Oechie-K, posted the best Finnish result in the class. With her controlled and fast riding, Heikkinen placed ninth in the class. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe horse felt good and is ready for tomorrow\u2019s Grand Prix class. It\u2019s nice to be back in Helsinki. The conditions are good, the arena is wonderfully large, and the surface is also good. Everything is set for tomorrow,\u201d Heikkinen said, describing his feelings right after the race. <\/p>\n\n

Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink, the first Finnish rider and fifth to start, rode a clean double-clear round, placing her in twelfth place. Jone Illi also rode a clear round on his horse, finishing just slightly faster than Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink, and Illi placed eleventh in the class. <\/p>\n\n

Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

International CSI5* 150 cm presented by Finnfoam, main course and jump-off. Started 36th, finished 13th.<\/strong>1) Giampiero Garofalo – Lambrusco, ITA 0-0\/38.57, 2) Robert Whitaker – Equine America Gentlemen vh Veldhof, GBR 0-0\/38.58,3) Denis Lynch – Vistogrand, IRL 0-0\/38.75, \u2026 24) Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink – Kerel van het Sterrebos, FIN 4\/69.46 Full results: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n\n

International CSI5* 145 cm presented by H\u00f6\u00f6ks, two rounds. Started 33rd, finished 13th.<\/strong>1) Denis Lynch – Katja 0-0\/26.672) Mans Thjissen \u2013 Nero Z 0-0\/28.813) Kevin Staut \u2013 Kannonqulan 0-0\/29.12\u2026 9) Petra Heikkinen – Oechie-K, FIN 0-0\/32.38, \u2026 11) Jone Illi \u2013 Celtas Quillian, FIN 0-0\/34.15, \u2026 12) Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink \u2013 Attention Z, FIN 0-0\/34.43Full results: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday evening concluded with the highly anticipated 150 cm class presented by Finnfoam, which was also a Longines ranking class. The top ten from the first round advanced to the jump-off. One of them was Robert Whitaker from the UK, who had previously enjoyed great success in Helsinki, riding Gentlemen vh Veldhof. \u201cThe horse was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized-fi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21357"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21358,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21357\/revisions\/21358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}