E3 Finals

E3 is an annual racing series for European born 3-year-old trotters over two distances. It starts in June with eliminations and then finals over 2140 meters, and continues in August with eliminations and finals over 1609 meters. Each final has an open and one filly division with $107,000 in the purse to the winner in the open division and $87,000 in the filly division. The series continues later in autumn with the ‘E3-revenge’, which holds $40,000 in the purse to the winner.


Roger Walmann’s Filly
The finals over ’middle distance’ (2140 meters) were held at Eskilstuna raceway in the beginning of July. Amaru Boko with Jorma Kontio in the bike won the open division, whereas Tamla Celeber won both the ’middle and short’ distance finals. The 'short distance' (1609 meters) final took place at Örebro raceway Friday, August 20. Tamla Celeber started from pos two, but could not defend the lead. The driver Örjan Kihlström managed to find her a position as third horse on the outside. He attacked with 500 meters left to go and she delivered a great speed, but was challenged by Roxa Sisu who finished second. Tamla Celeber is trained by Roger Walmann, a man famous for his talented fillies. Giant Diablo is the best known overseas after she set a world-record mark at Lexington in 2007 at 1:50.1.

Tamla Celeber (by Cantab Hall - Amanda Celeber) has won seven times in nine outings this year banking $233,000. Her dam Amanda Celeber (by Express Ride - Judy Tim) won four out of 47 entries and banked $117,000 for her trainer Kjell Wallin. She finished third behind Giant Diablo in the Swedish Oaks, the most prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies.


An Upcoming Star
Raja Mirchi was the favorite in both E3 finals open for colts, but he fell off stride in both his entries. Last Saturday, August 21, the rapid opening became too challenging and Raja Mirchi made a break after 200 meters. The winner was instead Deuxieme Picsous with Johnny Takter in the bike. The colt was breed, is owned and trained by Johan Lejon. Whereas Västerbo Face It defended the lead in a quick opening at 1.07.0/1609a (1:47.4), Deuxieme Picsous was stacked behind horses wide out. He got a wide last turn but showed great confident and won with one length before Leclerc and Embassy Caviar, both placed behind horses throughout the race. Deuxieme Picsous added $107,000 to his bank account, which doubled his career earnings. He finished third in the first E3 Final in July, and the In Love With You colt (dame Carmela Strömline) seems to be better over longer distances which sounds promising with the 215,000 Kriteriet, over 2640 meters coming up in October.

Jubileumspokalen

Magnificent races took place at Solvalla racecourse in Stockholm last Wednesday, August 18, with the $135,000 Jubileumspokalen as the main race of the day. Jubileumspokalen is one of the highest donated races in Sweden, since 2009 it’s open for 5-year-olds only. Many 5-year-olds have struggled some growing into the elite of aged horses, and with several high-donated races during summer, the new version of Jubileumspokalen is a welcome move of Solvalla and has so far attracted the best 5-year-olds. Last year, Iceland won Jubileumspokalen and followed up this year by winning the Elitlopp!


Stig H Johansson's Nu Pagadi won Jubileumspokalen
Solvalla’s outstanding champion Stig H Johansson counted for another victory when Nu Pagadi impressed and won the race with 1,5 lengths. The 5-year-old stallion has won several big races, among those Copenhagen Cup in Denmark earlier this year. That race was won from the lead whereas he won Jubileumspokalen from a position wide-out. He started from pos nine in the second row behind the gate. The driver Erik Adielsson was resolute, sent his horse forward directly and came up outside of Yield Boko in the front after 500 meters at 1.11,2/2140a (1:54.3). They reached the first 1000 meters at 1.12,2/2140a (1:56.1), and Adielsson could then control the rest of the race, coming home at 1.11,6/2140a (1:55.1) after a very strong finish.

Nu Pagadi (by Love You-Noblesse Oblige) joined Stig H Johansson’s stable in March 2009 and the result has been exceptional. He has bumped his career earnings to $842,000, earning more than $700,000 since he came into Stig H Johansson’s care.


Maharajah is Back
Besides from Jubileumspokalen, Maharajah (by Viking Kronos - Chili Khan) with Örjan Kihlström in the bike won the $20,000 C. Th Ericsson Memorial after an inside position at 1.13,9/2640a (1:59.0). Maharajah was the dominant in his crop as a 3-4-year-old, but has not grown into the elite yet. Trainer Stefan Hultman has since long announced that they are aiming at Prix D’Amerique with the horse, and with those ambitions in mind, he has a few more months to set Maharajah in absolute top condition.

Jubileumspokalen 2010 -Nu Pagadi

The Mysteries of Swedish Harness Racing

Looking back, Swedish trotting evolved mainly from North American harness racing and considering that most of the influences on breeding, training and equipment were imported from the US, it is interesting to see how the sport has branched out in different countries. The Swedish way of doing things differs quite a lot, and a few pieces of explanation will be needed. To start with, we use the metric system (one meter is roughly equivalent to a yard) in Sweden so the way we talk about distances and marks make little sense in North America.

1000 Meters Tracks & Longer Distances

In general, all Swedish racing tracks are 1000 meters (5/8 mile). There are a few exceptions with 800-meter tracks (1/2 mile) in Arvika, Hoting and Åmål and a mile track in Tingsryd. The length of homestretches varies from 105 meters (Åmål) to 227 meters (Axevalla) in length. Skellefteå has an open stretch, whereas Åby has double open lanes.

There are basically four distances used in Sweden, 1640 meters (’short distance’), 2140 meters (’middle distance’), 2640 meters, 3140 meters (’long or stayer distance’). The English mile is mainly used for prestigious races only (such as the Elitlopp), except for races at Tingsryd where the track layout is devised to suit the mile. With the given circumstances in mind, a race over middle distance (2140 meters) consists of two laps around the raceway with four turns. These conditions make 1000 meters tracks slower than mile tracks.

The following converter gives an indication of the distances used in Sweden.

1640 meters ≈ >1 mile

2140 meters ≈ 1 3/8 mile

2640 meters ≈ 1 5/8 mile

3140 meters ≈ <2>

The Start is Important

About 54% of the races start with the horses behind the gate. Twelve trotters can be behind the gate - eight in the first row and four as trailers. The remaining 46% of the races have a ‘circling start’ with two or more groups comprising up to six horses each. Circling start allows a handicap system where those who earned more than a certain amount start 20 meters behind the wire. The Harper Hanover is a prestigious race over long distance, which sometimes has up to four circles behind the wire (please see video clip below). Those who earned up to a certain amount are joined in one circle and those with the biggest bank account in the circle most distant. All the circles are moving in the clockwise direction, whereas in Norway the second circle is heading in the opposite direction.

The average race finds the horses stacked up behind the leader after 500 meters. It is a crucial part of the race where positions are elementary and the speed just as high as on the homestretch. It is rarely full speed throughout the whole race, and it is quite unusual that horses are parked out three wide for a long time. The drivers are typically picking up speed with 600 meters left to go. The purse for the winner is in average $4,000, whereas races of more dignity have $15,000 and more in the purse for the winner.

Average Time Over 1000 Meters

It is not accurate to convert Swedish marks to North American, a truth which stems from the fact that we measure time as if the speed was an average over 1 000 metres. Instead of referring to quarters and get something similar to 29.4 for the first quarter, we would normally get the first mark after 500 meters. If the stopwatch shows 35,25 seconds, we get an opening time at 1.10,5 (35,25 seconds x 2 = 70,5 seconds = 1 minute and 10,5 seconds), which is then referring to the average time over 1000 meters.

With all these circumstances in mind, record marks set on 1000 meters tracks do not equal the time set on a mile track. Individual lifetime marks set in Sweden are not comparable with those set in North America, neither in dollars nor in time. North American trotting is faster and offers more generous purses than Swedish owners can hope for. Let us assume we are heading towards higher purses so the sport can survive economical crisis and remain the arena event it used to be when it was first introduced in our country.

Harper Hanovers 2008 - Millstone's Eager