French rider Hooker Berry will fly to Sweden and take his place behind the starting car in the world's biggest sprint race next Sunday. Thus, the starting field is ready for Elitloppet 2025 at Solvalla- "Hooker Berry is a horse I've wanted to see at Solvalla for a long time. He showed great form last time and it's great that the former Prix d'Amerique winner will start in the Elitloppet," says Elitloppet manager Anders Malmrot.
Cobra Killer Gar was invited to this year's edition of Elitloppet as recently as Friday, but is now forced to withdraw due to injury. Instead, Hooker Berry steps in - and thus the French team is strengthened with a fifth horse in Elitloppet 2025! It will be Nicolas Bazire who will be entrusted to drive the merited chestnut.
The picture-perfect Hooker Berry delivered a stunning sprint to win the 2023 Prix d'Amérique for €450,000 and has already earned over €1.8 million in his career. Now he comes to Solvalla to compete on Swedish soil for the very first time.
- It's fantastic news that Hooker Berry will be in the Elitloppet! For me, it's a dream to drive in this incredible race. It's a magical weekend and we are already impatient to be there," says driver Nicolas Bazire.
The sixteen horses are ready and now awaits the draw of the two trials - this takes place live on TV12 at 17:30.
Facts about Hooker Berry
Age: 8 years
Sex: Stallion
Father: Booster Winner
Mother: Osaka Berry
Starter/Result: 79 (14-11-15)
Earned: EUR 1 818 420
Record: 1.08,6 autostart (1609m)
Owner: Michel Aladenise
Coach: Franck Leblanc
Attendant: Nathanael Picard
Breeder: Michel Aladenise
Nationality: French
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 (Sweden), Don Fanucci Zet (Sweden), Always Ek (Italy), Hohneck (France), Hussard du Landret (France), Charron (Norway), Massimo Hoist (Finland) and Hooker Berry (France).
