Stochampionatet – The Highest Donated Race for 4-Year-Old Fillies

A Three-Day Racing Event

Stochampionatet took place at Axevalla raceway last Sunday, on July 25. It is the biggest race for 4-year-old fillies over the distance 2640 meters with a purse of $135,265. Stochampionatet as a concept is the second biggest trotting event in Sweden after the Elitlopp, normally attracting around 30,000 people. The race itself finalize a three-day harness racing meeting with races Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Lots of people bring their caravans and tents, spending the weekend camping around the venue.

Axevalla raceway is located outside of Skara in the mid-south of Sweden, an area usually called ’the Swedish Kentucky’, with some of the main breeders based around the area. Among those, breeder Karl-Erik Bender’s (Torvald Palema) camp is located a few miles from Axevalla raceway, where also his main sires are stabled, the 1992 Hambletonian winner Alf Palema and his son Gidde Palema.

In Favor of the Breeders

The first edition of Stochampionatet was held in 1969 and the winner was Goldhook with Gösta Nordin in the bike. Until 1978, the distance was 3100 meters, but was then changed to 2640 meters, the same distance as the 4-year-old’s most prestigious race - the Derby, which takes place in Malmö the first Sunday in September. Stochampionatet was originally opened in favor of the breeders, by providing much needed revenue to increase purses and help keep owners, trainers and their horses in the area. The long distance asks for both strength and the right attitude to win. Queen L and Ina Scot won the race in 1990 and 1993 respectively, and both followed up not only winning the Derby, but also Prix d´Amerique later in life.

Viola Silas is the Queen of Her Crop

Viola Silas has been the outstanding queen among the fillies in her crop, winning 17 out of 18 entries. Her only loss was in the end of June this year when she finished third. The filly (by sire Lindy Lane - dam Iza Silas) has always proven her strength, the way she finished the contestants from an outside position in the $81,500 E3 final last season was absolutely remarkable. She was not eligible to start in Oaks (the highest donated race for 3-year-old fillies), which instead was won by Pebbly, but she won the $95,000 Breeders Crown for 3-year-old fillies and continued this season by winning the Drottning Silvias Pokal (’The Queens Trophy’) with $129,000 in the purse.

The Final

Six elimination heats took place on Friday, July 16. Viola Silas won her elimination heat easily, but the most impressive elimination heat winner was Vitesse d'Inverne. Those two were the main favorites to win the final, but when Vitesse d´Inverne went off stride shortly after the gate left them, Viola Silas took command whilst the rest were stacked up behind. Due to the heavy rain that fell, Viola Silas had problem with the sloppy track and were close to go off stride several times. With one lap left to go, Peter G Norman forced Dileva Käll to the front, a surprising move, which caused Fredrik Persson to take the position outside with his filly. Viola Silas was sliding across the track, but managed to stay strong right to the wire and win the prestigious race at 1.15,9/2640a (2:02.1). Dileva Käll finished second with Estancia right behind.

Even though Viola Silas has banked $590,000, the filly is still immature, and must learn to open rapidly behind the gate. Until now, the trainer and driver Fredrik Persson has relied on her strength, usually leaving the gate a few lengths behind and then via a three-wide move, park outside or march to the front. If Persson can develop her skills before the Derby eliminations that take place in the end of August, she has the capacity to challenge the best males in her crop.

Is Viola Silas Becoming a New Ina Scot?

Viola Silas has already outperformed the fillies and something about her reminds me of Ina Scot. Ina Scot was typically strong, had an amazing character winning all the classical races for 3-and 4-year-olds in her crop and was even beating the males in the Derby. She had an amazing career and banked more than $2,750,000, winning 54 of her 90 entries with the victory in Prix D´Amerique in 1995 as her main international triumph.

Viola Silas has a long way to go before she truly can be compared with Ina Scot, but two things make them similar. Both have proven strength and have the ability to do their job. Just like Ina Scot, Viola Silas has always delivered the best when it matters the most and it will be interesting to see if she can conquer the throne completely by challenging the males in the Derby.