Winning the trials and the final on the same day is nothing new - however, participating in the Elitloppet will be a completely new experience for last year's Sprinter Champion.
Hustle Rain will receive the sixteenth and final pink Elitlopp ticket in 2024.
- Hustle Rain has shown that he has qualities that are highly suitable for Elitloppet. He also has Elitloppet in his blood since his brother Magic Tonight won the final in 2015, says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
Danish-owned Hustle Rain was an early talking horse and after taking four straight victories as a three-year-old, he was one of the favorites for the trial races for the Swedish Trotting Criterium 2022. It was no luck there, but as a four-year-old he broke through in earnest and showed that he was one of the litter's absolute best horses.
Hustle Rain finished fourth in the final of the King Gustaf V's Cup and later won the St. Leger in 2023, but the biggest victory of his career came at the beginning of July when he won the Sprinters' Championship in Halmstad. He won both the trial and the final on the same day, which was rewarded with a total of SEK 1.3 million in first prize.
- It's a big dream and it will be a cool experience to have a horse in the Elitloppet itself. It feels like Hustle Rain is about to take the step into the elite so I think he will do a great performance, says trainer Mattias Djuse.
Following Hustle Rain's invitation, the 2024 Elitlopp field is now complete and the draw will take place today Sunday at 17.30 in TV12.
Facts about Hustle Rain
Age: 5 years
Sex: Stallion
Father: Raja Mirchi
Mother: Miss Possessed
Starts/Results: 23 (9-4-1)
Earned: SEK 2 620 780
Record: 1.10,0 autostart (1609 meters)
Owners: Metro Invest A/S and Thomas Lind-Holm
Coach: Mattias Djuse
Attendant: Sebastian Lindberg
Breeder: Thomas Lind-Holm
Nationality: Danish
Elitloppet is the main attraction during the Elitlopp weekend, which will be held at Solvalla in Stockholm on May 24-26, 2024. 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.
Invited horses for Elitloppet 2024: Idao de Tillard (France), Francesco Zet (Sweden), Joviality (Sweden), Hohneck (France), A Fair Day (Sweden), Go On Boy (France), Horsy Dream (France), Don Fanucci Zet (Sweden), Önas Prince (Sweden), Capital Mail (Italy), Borups Victory (Sweden), Bengurion Jet (Italy), Gaspar de Brion (France), Decision Maker (Sweden), Denver Gio (Italy), Hustle Rain (Denmark).
