It was a thrilling duel, but Mellby Jinx drew the longest straw. Daniel Wäjersten's star won Finlandia Ajo at Vermo and thus secured a direct place to Elitloppet 2025.
- He finished very strong over the finish line and it was really strong of him to get to the victory, says Solvalla's Elitloppet Manager Anders Malmrot.
As in previous years, the coveted pink ticket awaited the winner of the Finlandia Ajo at the finish line - with €100,000 as the first prize. The race was fast from the start and Mellby Jinx looked to have a long way ahead when the field turned into the run-up. But via a very sharp finish he managed to win in 1.09,9 over 1620 meters autostart.
- It felt like we were very far ahead, but the horse finished extremely fast the last 400 meters. I am very happy that he got a big race victory as an older horse. Mellby Jinx was already good as a young horse and now he got to put the icing on the cake, said trainer and driver Daniel Wäjersten in the winner's circle.
This was the biggest triumph of his career for Mellby Jinx, who had previously distinguished himself as a two-year-old with victory in the Breeders Course final. He was also second in Svensk Uppfödningslöpning 2020 and third in Svenskt Trav-Kriterium the following year.
He is trained by Daniel Wäjersten, who now has two horses ready for Elitloppet - last year's runner-up Borups Victory has also been invited. In addition, the owner and breeder Mellby Gård AB already has Mellby Knekt ready for Elitloppet.
Facts about Mellby Jinx
Age: 7 years
Sex: Gelding
Father: Ready Cash
Mother: Heaven's Door
Starts/Result: 48 (11-12-8)
Earned: SEK 8 044 526
Record: 1.08,7 autostart (1609 meters)
Owner: Mellby Gård AB
Coach: Daniel Wäjersten
Nurse: Ida Edin
Breeder: Mellby Gård AB
Nationality: Swedish
Elitloppet is the main attraction during the Elitlopp weekend, which will be held at Solvalla in Stockholm on May 23-25, 2025. Elitloppet is an invitational race where 16 horses compete in two different trials with eight horses in each. The top four in each trial will meet in a final where the winner will receive five million SEK.
Invited horses for Elitloppet 2025: Go On Boy (France), Logan Park (Canada), Borups Victory (Sweden), The Locomotive (Australia), Francesco Zet (Sweden), Etonnant (France), A Fair Day (Sweden), Mellby Knekt (Sweden), Mellby Jinx (Daniel Wäjersten)
