Åke Svanstedt has won Elitloppet twice before - can the third victory come with a Yankee?
American Back Of The Neck is the fourth horse to be ready for Elitloppet in 2022.
- A real tough guy who has been at the top among the young horses in the USA and fought against the best, says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
Åke Svanstedt won the Elitloppet in 2004 together with Gidde Palema and took his second victory together with Torvald Palema in the Elitloppet in 2009. But after moving to the USA a few years ago, we have to jump back to 2017 when we last had him visiting with a self-trained horse. That time with American Resolve who finished second in the Elitloppet final behind Timoko.
Now Åke Svanstedt is bringing a new American to Solvalla.
Five-year-old Back Of The Neck has won eleven of his thirty-two career starts and finished third in the USA's biggest race for three-year-olds in 2020 when he claimed bronze in The Hambletonian Stakes behind Ramona Hill.
In 2021, Back Of The Neck won the Dayton Trotting Derby at the elite race distance of 1609 meters with over $ 84,000 in first prize and in the final of the Breeders' Crown he could bring home the biggest prize check of his career. This after finishing second behind Swedish acquaintance and stablemate Ecurie D, earning $143,000.
Now the five-year-old stallion is coming to Sweden and Solvalla for the first time. In Saturday's V75 Direkt on TV4, Sports Director Anders Malmrot presented Back Of The Neck as horse number four in the Elitloppet 2022.
- He showed last year that he has taken the step towards the older elite and will be very exciting in this year's edition, says Anders Malmrot.
Facts Back Of The Neck
Age: 5 years
Sex: Stallion
Father: Ready Cash
Mother: Big Barb
Starts/Results: 32 (11-5-5)
Earned: 815 219 dollars
Record: 1.08,7 autostart (1609m)
Owner: Howard Taylor, Judy Taylor, Order By Stable & Åke Svanstedt Inc
Trainer: Åke Svanstedt
Attendant: Emmie Mårtensson
Breeder: Order By Stable
Nationality: American
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.
Invited horses for Elitloppet 2022: Don Fanucci Zet (Sweden), Etonnant (France), Vivid Wise As (Italy), Back Of The Neck (USA)
