Stosprintern – 'The Sprinter Championship, Female Division'

Friday, July 9 was a big day for the four-year-old fillies when the final of Stosprintern (‘Sprintermästaren Female Division’), with €35,000 ($50,000) to the winner took place. A very modest amount compared to the €100,000 ($142,000) handed over to the winner of Sprintermästaren the day before. The unfair allocation of prize money between fillies and colts makes little sense considering the costs involved to care for them is the same.

Tight Racing Calendar

Eleven days before the final, the eliminations took place, a fairly new move in order to avoid interference with the four-year-old fillies’ major event, Stochampionatet, which is due in the end of July. Up until 2005, Stosprintern had the same concept as Sprintermästaren, with eliminations and final on the same day. Due to the tight schedule with only ten days to prepare for the elimination heats to Stochampionatet, only a few fillies could attend both races and trainers had to choose between the two. The new concept has attracted most of the top fillies to Stosprintern – Zilan Boko, Dont Wear PJS and Sybaris Hanover won the elimination heats.

The Final

The draw for the final took place after the eliminations, with the following positions:

1. Zilan Boko – Jorma Kontio

2. Dont Wear PJS – örjan Kihlström
3. Sybaris Hanover – Stefan Söderkvist
4. La Bellouet – Håkan K Persson
5. Spirit Of The Day – Tom Horpestad
6. Chanel Håleryd – Kaj Widell
7. Calypso Sund – Åke Svanstedt
8. Lights On Broadway – Johnny Takter
9. Lucilu Hanover – Erik Adielsson
10. Pebbly – Björn Goop

Dont Wear PJS was heavily favored, but was never close after an outside position behind horses. The winner was instead Spirit of the Day who had plenty of speed left after an inside trip and found a clearance on the homestretch, winning at 1.12,0/1609a (1:55.4). The driver Tom Horpestad was exclaiming his excitement by swirling his whip in the air when crossing the finishing line.

Lexington Selected Yearling Sale

Spirit Of The Day is a daughter of the 2003 Hambletonian winner Amigo Hall and her dam is Affinity (by Victory Dream). She was a $20,000 yearling purchase at Lexington Selected Yearling Sale and has since 2007 been trained by her owner Tom Horpestad in Sweden. The victory bumped her career earnings to over the $100,000 mark.