Saturday's impressive victory in the Gold Division means straight to the Elitloppet at Solvalla. Tae Kwon Deo is ready for the last Sunday in May. "A very exciting horse for Elitloppet," says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
With the debut of the year completed, the tone was really up from trainer Adrian Kolgjini before Saturday's start in Håkan "Lillis" Olsson's race, Gulddivisionen, at Örebrotravet. After Adrian chose to run the outside leader for the final round, Tae Kwon Deo showed that the good reports were also true. The five-year-old crushed the competitors and won by far on the new course record 1.09,8 over 1609 meters.
Tae Kwon Deo, who took the biggest victory of his life when he won the Halmstad Sprinters' Championship last year with a first prize of SEK 1.2 million, is now taking on the biggest task of his career so far.
- He showed in the Sprinters' Championship that two heats work well and Saturday's victory he took without being pressured and he was really impressive, says Solvalla's sports manager Anders Malmrot.
Five-year-old Tae Kwon Deo is the fifth horse to receive a pink ticket for the Elitloppet at Solvalla on Sunday, May 31. For him it will be the first start in Elitloppet.
Facts about Tae Kwon Deo
Age: 5 years
Sex: Stallion
Father: Muscle Hill
Mother: Brigham Dream
Starts/Results: 25 (8-4-2)
Earned: SEK 2 447 216
Record: 1.09,6 autostart (1609m)
Owners: Whap Capital AB, Lutfi Kolgjini AB & Erkén
Coach: Adrian Kolgjini
Nurse: Anna Svensson
Breeder: Deo Volente Farms LLC
Nationality: Swedish
Elitloppet is the main attraction during the Elitlopp weekend, which will be held at Solvalla in Stockholm on May 29-31, 2020. 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 three million SEK.
Invited horses for Elitloppet 2020: Vivid Wise As (Italy), Elian Web (Finland), Chief Orlando (Finland), Attraversiamo (Sweden) and Tae Kwon Deo (Sweden).
This year, the Elitlopp weekend will be organized without spectators. The spread of the new coronavirus has led to laws, regulations and directives that have resulted in Solvalla and other Swedish trotting tracks completely closing down their spectator facilities since March 12. In addition to this, a number of restrictions have been introduced around the stables. The racecourses are today a strict workplace where only people who perform a job have access.
