With only two horses left to invite, Solvalla's sporting director Anders Malmrot turned his eyes to the west to invite another Norwegian. Last year's Norwegian Derby winner Cokstile is ready for Elitloppet.
- Cokstile is a fast and tough five-year-old who has a strong development potential, says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
Cokstile took four victories as a three-year-old and won, among other things, DNT's Høstfinale. His biggest victory came as a four-year-old when he won the Norsk Travderby. The same year he won his trial in Champion Jarlsberg Grand Prix and was then second in the final. This year he has only started once but took a safe victory over sprint distance ahead of Donatomite and others.
Cokstile is trained by Jan Kristian Waaler and will be ridden by Lars Anvar Kolle. It will be the first elite race for both of them, but not for the owner.
- The owner Jan-Erik Andresen also had Yarrah Boko and now gets to experience the atmosphere and excitement of Elitloppet again, says Anders Malmrot.
Facts about Cokstile
Age: 5 years
Sex: Stallion
Starts/Result: 20 (8-4-4)
Earned: NOK 1 833 545
Record: 1.10,0 autostart (1 609m)
Owner: Jan-Erik Andresen
Coach: Jan Kristian Waaler
Attendant: Ragnhild Diesen
Nationality: Norwegian
Elitloppet is the highlight of the Elitlopp weekend, which will be held at Solvalla on May 25-27, 2018. Elitloppet is an invitational race where 16 horses compete in two different trials with eight horses in each. The top four in each trial meet in a final where the winner receives three million SEK. Last year, the Elitlopp weekend had over 60,000 visitors, around one million TV viewers on TV4 and TV12 and SEK 373 million in turnover on ATG's betting forms.
Horses invited to Elitloppet 2018: Uza Josselyn (Switzerland), Bold Eagle (France), Propulsion (Sweden), Maori Time (Australia), Ringostarr Treb (Italy), Pastore Bob (Sweden), Nadal Broline (Finland), Volstead (Sweden), Dreammoko (Holland), Takethem (Denmark), Orlando Jet (Austria), Amiral Sacha (France), Lionel N.O. (Norway), Up and Quick (France) and Cokstile (Norway)
Press release from Solvalla May 20, 2018.
Photo: Leif Norberg, ALN
