The Hugo Åberg Memorial - A Sprinter Race Over the English Mile

The Hugo Åberg Memorial is a special race, highly donated and usually taking place on a ‘magical’ Tuesday night at Jägersro raceway in Malmö. Tonight (July 27), the track was in great condition, the audience was enjoying a beautiful summer night, and the horses showed off at their best. With ten horses behind the gate, the $138,000 Hugo Åberg Memorial is one of the most prestigious races for sprinters in Europe and this edition contained a mixture of the best European horses available.

The meeting started yesterday with the annual Kolgjini Sales, a mixed auction containing both yearlings and age horses. The two most expensive yearlings ($192,000) were both sired by Viking Kronos. Nadir Kronos (by Varenne - Crown Kronos) finished second after Raja Mirchi in The Ulf Toresen Memorial two weeks ago and was the most expensive horse worth $205,000.

Kolgjini stole the show again!

As so many times before, Kolgjini captured the audience at his home arena tonight, and The Hugo Åberg Memorial held no exception. Torvald Palema was the even money favourite but had post nine in the second tier behind the gate. From post six, Lavec Kronos raced to the front with the favourite Torvald Palema third on the outside. Beanie M.M. had to trott outside without cover and tired around the last bend. Torvald Palema delivered his speed on the homestretch, but by then, Kolgjini had already released the driving lines and Lavec Kronos finished the last 500 meters at 1.07,5/1609a (1:48.3) and won the race at 1.09,9/1609 (1:52.2). Torvald Palema finished second with Brioni locked in behind. Exactly a year ago, Lavec Kronos equaled the world record mark for 4-year-old colts at 1.10.2/1609a (1:53.0) on a 1000 meters track, and the Enjoy Lavec son has absolutely entered the elite as a 5-year-old.

Lutfi Kolgjini treated the 16,000 in audience with love and brought Lavec Kronos across the venue after the race. When they sang the Swedish national anthem, even Kolgjini seemed to be touched and indeed very proud. Prior to The Hugo Åberg Memorial, Raja Mirchi fulfilled his task winning the Premio Going Kronos, a race that was held in honor of Kolgjni’s former top horse Going Kronos. As in The Ulf Toresen Memorial, Raja Mirchi raced to the front, left the rest behind and won the race with four lengths. This time, Raja Mirchi acted like an aged horse, and besides the $41,000 he added to his bank account, he declared his position as a sprinter, showing no tendency to go off stride during the race and took an impressive victory at 1.12,1/1609a (1:56.0) The colt is still heavily balanced and with a few adjustments, the horse will gain more ground in the future.

Crème de la Crème

Lavec Kronos' pedigree is indeed exceptional, with both his sire and dam having extraordinary bloodlines. Lavec Kronos is as mentioned by dam Dame Lavec (by Quito de Talonay). Her dam Kit Lobell (Speedy Crown – Keystone Pioneer) was a very tough mare competing against the best on both sides of the Atlantic. She started her career in the US winning the International Trot, Matron Stakes, Filly Final, Colonial Lady & Breeders Crown. She finished second in the Elitlopp in 1991 and banked $1,205,000. Her dam Keystone Pioneer was also among the very best and won Kentucky Futurity, the Hambletonian Oaks, Canadian Trotting Classic and Copenhagen Cup. Sire Quito de Talonay (by Florestan) won the highest donated race for 3-year-old colts in France - the Criterium des 3 ans, and banked $452,000 with 12 victories out of 35 entries.

Lavec Kronos' sire Enjoy Lavec was trained in the US by Jimmy Takter. He won the Peter Haughton Memorial in 1998. The following year, he finished third in the Hambletonian, but won Zweig Memorial and World Trotting Derby by setting a new world record mark over three heats at 1.09,6 (1:52.0), 1.10,4 (1:53.1) and 1.10,1 (1:52.4) when he defeated Self Possessed. Enjoy Lavec's dam Margit Lobell (by Speedy Crown – Martina Hanover) was an elite mare in Sweden with offspring Fatima Lavec (by Sugercane Hanover) $260,000 and Kramer Cascade (Super Bowl) $260,000. Margit Lobell’s dam is no less than Martina Hanover, she was by other means a sister of Mack Lobell!

Enjoy Lavec’s sire Pine Chip would need his own chapter. Just briefly, he won basically everything besides the Hambletonian (finished second in the final) as a 3-year-old colt, with victories in the Breeders Crown, Kentucky Futurity, World Trotting Derby, The Beacon Course, American National Stakes, The Colonial Trot and Matron Stakes. As a 4-year-old, he won Breeders Crown, Nat Ray Trot, an elimination heat to the Elitlopp, and Delaware Open Trot. He set the historical world record mark at 1:51.0 in the time trial at The Red Mile Lexington and continued his career with an army of top offspring.

Kolgjini's Memorial

The Hugo Åberg Memorial 2010 evolved into The Kolgjini Memorial instead. The trainer from Jägersro has once again defeated the best in Europe and the show he held tonight will be remembered for a long time. This is exactly the kind of publicity Swedish trotting needs in order to (re)connect with the audience. With half the season left to go, there will most likely be more of Kolgjini in the future.