{"id":21428,"date":"2026-03-01T02:08:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T00:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/uncategorized\/eiken-sato-wins-the-helsinki-grand-prix-jone-illi-is-the-top-finnish-finisher\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:58:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:58:30","slug":"eiken-sato-wins-the-helsinki-grand-prix-jone-illi-is-the-top-finnish-finisher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/home-page-campaign\/eiken-sato-wins-the-helsinki-grand-prix-jone-illi-is-the-top-finnish-finisher\/","title":{"rendered":"Eiken Sato Wins the Helsinki Grand Prix; Jone Illi Is the Top Finnish Finisher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Thirteen riders competed for the win in the Helsinki Grand Prix rematch. This time, the fastest rider was Japan\u2019s Eiken Sato on Chadellano JRA. Jone Illi rode her first five-star Grand Prix and was the top Finnish rider in the class. Thirteen riders competed for the win in Saturday\u2019s 155 cm Helsinki Grand Prix jump-off. This time, the fastest rider was Japan\u2019s Eiken Sato on Chadellano JRA. Jone Illi rode his first five-star Grand Prix and was the top Finnish rider in the class. <\/p>\n\n

\"Eiken
Eiken Sato and Chadellano JRA. Photo by Heidi Lammi. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The class\u2019s final round provided plenty of excitement for the audience, as the lead changed hands several times. Eiken Sato ultimately held on to the lead until the very end. Second place went to Kevin Staut of France on Kannonqulan, and third place went to Giampiero Garofalo of Italy on Querido van\u2019t Ruytershof. <\/p>\n\n

Sato, who is aiming for this season\u2019s World Championships in Aachen and the Asian Games in Japan, was very pleased with his victory. He has been with Yuri Mansuri\u2019s team for just over half a year and believes it has had a positive impact on his recent progress on the competition circuit. He has made changes to his training regimen and has gained a lot of new knowledge. <\/p>\n\n

Sato’s racing partner, Chadellano JRA, is owned by the Japan Equestrian Federation. Sato is very grateful that they have placed their trust in him to race the horse. <\/p>\n\n

Finns Performed Well Despite Their Eliminations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Jone Illi once again posted the best Finnish result in the class. His first round with Celtas Quillian went very well, but unfortunately, due to a single knockdown, the pair did not qualify for the jump-off. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy\u2014this was a big step forward. I was disappointed after the course, because it was a pretty unlucky fall. It was just a very small mistake there. I can\u2019t help but be pleased with the horse. I feel confident. You can see that the horse is capable of this, and I was capable of it, and it didn\u2019t feel terribly difficult,\u201d Illi says excitedly.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always believed in the horse, but I didn\u2019t think we\u2019d reach this level\u2014at least not this quickly. I have my team to thank entirely for the fact that our results have improved so quickly since I moved to Germany,\u201d says Illi.<\/p>\n\n

Illi was honored as the best Finnish rider in her class with the Christopher Wegelius Memorial Trophy. The award honors Wegelius\u2019s memory and is a perpetual trophy that Illi had the honor of being the first to receive. <\/p>\n\n

\"Jone
Jone Illi and Celtas Quillian accepting the Christopher Wegelius Memorial Award; photo by Heidi Lammi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Petra Heikkinen and Oechie-K also delivered a brilliant performance on the standard course, with just one fall.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt was entirely my own riding mistake, because I rode the previous line a little too hastily and then couldn\u2019t quite find my balance for the triple combination. The course was definitely at the right level for us,\u201d Heikkinen recalls.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun to ride here. It\u2019s always fun to ride in Helsinki. There\u2019s a big crowd, and it always feels different to compete in front of a home crowd,\u201d Heikkinen says happily.<\/p>\n\n

Helsinki International Horse Show, Helsinki Exhibition and Convention CenterResults: February 28<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

CSI5* 155 cm Helsinki Grand Prix<\/strong>, main round and jump-off. Started 35th, finished 13th 1) Eiken Sato – Chadellano JRA, JPN 0-0\/32.892) Kevin Staut – Kannonqulan, FRA 0-0\/33.593) Giampiero Garofalo – Querido van’t Ruytershof, ITA 0-0\/35.54\u2026 17) Jone Illi – Celtas Quillian, FIN 4\/67.7618) Petra Heikkinen – Oechie-K, FIN 4\/68.53\u202632) Anna-Julia Kontio – Cayadina, FIN 16\/68.86Jasmin Sepp\u00e4l\u00e4-Geerink – Kerel van het Sterrebos, FIN RT Full results: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirteen riders competed for the win in the Helsinki Grand Prix rematch. This time, the fastest rider was Japan\u2019s Eiken Sato on Chadellano JRA. Jone Illi rode her first five-star Grand Prix and was the top Finnish rider in the class. Thirteen riders competed for the win in Saturday\u2019s 155 cm Helsinki Grand Prix jump-off. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,97,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-page-campaign","category-new-article","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21428","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=21428"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21430,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21428\/revisions\/21430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}