Five million crowns await the winner in Elitloppet 2022.
Recently, the two trial heats were drawn and it is set for a crowd party at Solvalla during the weekend of May 27-29.
- It's a very exciting edition of Elitloppet that awaits this year and the track draw in the trials did not make it less speculative, says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
Solvalla can once again welcome the public to the Elitlopp weekend of trotting in days three and we can count on many trotting lovers looking forward to this year's edition. This is because the races have been run without an audience the last two years due to the corona pandemic.
On Sunday afternoon, the two heats of the Elitloppet 2022 trial were drawn on TV12, which for the first time will award a total of SEK 5 million to the winner.
Last year's winner Don Fanucci Zet is one of three horses from Daniel Redén and in his attempt, the title defender will start from track eight. The worst starting position - just like he got in 2021 when he still managed to win Elitloppet. Daniel Redén then got significantly better track one for Snowstorm Hanover and track four for Hail Mary in the second attempt.
Last year's runner-up Vivid Wise As is back for revenge and represents Italy together with his stablemate Vernissage Grif and Cokstile. He was drawn to track seven in his trial race - in other words, it was no dream track for the top-seeded duo Don Fanucci Zet and Vivid Wise As.
From Denmark comes Extreme, France is represented by Etonnant who makes his first start on Swedish soil, and then we have Mister F Daag (Belgium) and Perfetto (Canada) who also make their debut in Elitloppet - the latter Perfetto has been named Older Horse of the Year in Canada both in 2020 and 2021.
Trial 1 Elitloppet 2022:
1 Önas Prince (Sweden) Trainer: Per Nordström, Driver: Per Nordström
2 Brother Bill (Sweden) Trainer: Timo Nurmos, Driver: Jorma Kontio
3 Cokstile (Italy) Trainer: Erik Bondo, Driver: Christoffer Eriksson
4 Perfetto (Canada) Trainer: Dagfin Henriksen, Driver: Dagfin Henriksen
5 Click Bait (Sweden) Trainer: Stefan Melander, Driver: Ulf Ohlsson
6 Vernissage Grif (Italy) Trainer: Alessandro Gocciadoro, Driver: Alessandro Gocciadoro
7 Etonnant (France) Trainer: Richard Westerink, Driver: Anthony Barrier
8 Don Fanucci Zet (Sweden) Trainer: Daniel Redén, Driver: Örjan Kihlström
Trial 2 Elitloppet 2022:
1 Snowstorm Hanover (Sweden) Trainer: Daniel Redén, Driver: Magnus A Djuse
2 Admiral As (Sweden) Trainer: Reijo Liljendahl, Driver: Per Lennartsson
3 Who's Who (Sweden) Trainer: Pasi Aikio, Driver: Åke Svanstedt
4 Hail Mary (Sweden) Trainer: Daniel Redén, Driver: Erik Adielsson
5 Night Brodde (Sweden) Trainer: Conrad Lugauer, Driver: Conrad Lugauer
6 Mister F Daag (Belgium) Trainer: Paul Hagoort, Driver: Robin Bakker
7 Vivid Wise As (Italy) Trainer: Alessandro Gocciadoro, Driver: Matthieu Abrivard
8 Extreme (Denmark) Trainer: Steen Juul, Driver: Björn Goop
Elitkampen
One of the big attractions during the Elitlopp weekend will be Månlykke A.M. and Gunnar Melander. Månlykke A.M. has won the Swedish Championship two years in a row, but no start in Elitkampen has been made -- until now. When Gunnar Melander agreed to participate with Månlykke A.M. it pleased many and in Elitkampen we have a very interesting duel to look forward to this year.
Månlykke A.M. will face Norway's cold-blooded king Odd Herakles. They have met in previous races, but never in Elitkampen. Odd Herakles is the defending champion as he has won the race both in 2020 and 2021 - so we can expect it to go fast over the 1640 meters that the cold-blooded will run.
This year there is also an increased first prize in Elitkampen where the winner among the coldbloods receives one million SEK.
Visiting foreign stars
The Elitlopp weekend is packed with top horses and this year we'll see a bunch of foreign stars in the other races. In the test of strength Harper Hanover's race, which is decided on Saturday, French Diable De Vauvert starts on the volte at the back together with Norwegian Moni Viking (who won the race in 2020) and they will, among other things, chase the forty-meter extension on Piemonte, who is trained by Joakim Lövgren and who comes with five straight victories. The winner of Harper Hanover's race will be rewarded with one million SEK.
In the Class II final of the STL, the top four-year-old Luuk Schermer from the Netherlands will be the guest, and in the Stoeliten, Lady Snärt's Race, we will see, among others, the Frenchwoman Heliade Du Goutier, who was fourth in the UET Grand Prix last year behind the Calgary Games.
Sweden Cup, also called Little Elitloppet, makes a comeback on Saturday after a pandemic break and it is always one of the favorite races of the Elitlopp crowd. Three trials plus a final are the order of the day and Italian Bepi Bi will be one of the favorites. Officer Stephen will also be a guest, and they will face the Swedish trio Disco Volante, Milliondollarrhyme and Seismic Wave - all three of whom have previously been in Elitloppet.
Elitloppsunday
In addition to the Elitloppet and Elitkampen, Sunday will also feature a number of delicious young horses. The final of the Breeders' Course for three-year-old horses will award one million to the winner and will be one of the highlights.
In the four-year-old elite for mares, Italian Clarissa visits Solvalla and American Shirley Goodness, trained by Daniel Redén, is among the opposition.
Philippe Allaire sends Callmethebreeze to the open class of the Four-Year-Old Elite. Callmethebreeze won the Group I race Orsi Mangelli 2021.
The Monté elite will also be riding on Sunday and we will see one of France's best monté horses, Florida Sport, for the first time over sprint distance. In addition, France's most winning rider from last year will be riding here - Mathieu Mottier.
Elitloppet is the main attraction during the Elitlopp weekend, which will be held at Solvalla in Stockholm on May 27-29, 2022. 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 five million SEK.
