Readly Express is looking forward to a bright spring.
A spring he faced on Sunday in the Criterium de Vitesse on the French Riviera.
With a furious sprint, he won the prestigious race and consolidated his position as the favorite for Elitloppet.
The external conditions could not have been better when the 62nd edition of the Criterium de Vitesse was held at the Hippodrome de la Côte d'Azur. Warm winds caressed the track and the mercury crept above 20 degrees. And in the stands, the temperature rose to boiling point when Readly Express, in a thrilling battle of the runners, put the nose first just before the finish line.
- He was incredibly good! We knew he had a bad situation with the first track but the horse felt so good that I was optimistic anyway. And it worked out well in the race. Incredibly fun! said the horse's trainer Timo Nurmos.
It was the first time that Readly Express competed over the elite race distance of 1,609 meters and he needed every meter to put his nose first. As expected, he ended up a bit down the field from the inside lane behind the starting car, a bad starting point in Cagnes-sur-Mer, and although it worked out well when he from the third pair on the outside got help in the final curve, it was a long way to leading Dijon in the run-up. But in the last 100 meters, Readly Express turned on the turbo and with mighty strides, he fought his way to the first run record of 1.08,9.
- If you run a horse like this, you always have faith in the horse, you never give up before the finish, and it's a long race here. He has that head and doesn't give up. He saw the horse in front and was determined to get past it," said driver Björn Goop.
According to Timo Nurmos, Readly Express, who received 785,000 SEK for the victory, will go home to Sweden on Wednesday and the plan is for him to make at least one more start before the big goal - Elitloppet at Solvalla on the last Sunday in May.
- What a damn race! To see Readly Express bite the last 100 and just be first - absolutely fantastic! It bodes so well for Elitloppet that it's hard to put it into words, said Solvalla's sports manager and elite race general Anders Malmrot who was on site in France.
French national idol and defending champion of the Criterium de Vitesse, Bold Eagle, didn't have one of his better days and flopped completely after being forced to trot as first horse in second. Romain Derieux-trained Dijon, however, was an exclamation mark. He showed lightning starting speed and with his trainer in the saddle he held very strongly to second place. An effort that could result in an elite race invitation.
- I have always liked that horse a lot and had him high on my list already last year. Then he unfortunately flopped in Finland and it became nothing of it, but as he has moved forward in his positions since then, now he received Bold Eagle and got beaten just before the line, so he is highly relevant. He looks fantastic so I will take him with me first. But also Bahia Quesnot behind there and Uza Josselynsaid Anders Malmrot.
