April 28, 2017 – This weekend provide exciting Gr. I harness racing action at Aby and Napoli.
Tomorrow is the €296.626 purse Olympiatravet featuring heavily favored Nuncio with Orjan Kihlstrom at the lines for Stefan Melander. The race lineup follows for that 2140 meter autostart UET Masters Series test:
Saturday: OlympiaTravet (Group I – 2.140m autostart)
So named because the organization reverses a portion of the funds raised on betting to the Swedish Olympic and Paralympic Committee, the OlympiaTravet is a very popular race in Sweden. Although no French trotter ever won it except for Etain Royal in 2001, but it defended Finnish colors, they are four to be in second place: General du Pommeau , beaten by Varenne in 2002, Flambeau des Pins dominated in 2003 by Gidde Palema ( winning record of the event with three consecutive successes from 2003 to 2005), Kart de Baudrairie in 2005, and more recently, Roxana de Barbray defeated by Maharajah in 2013.
This year,
Black d'Avril and
Voltigeur de Myrt will try to reverse the trend. Well placed by having inherited numbers 3 and 4, they will still have to take the best on the Swedish-American crack
Nuncio who will have to sharpen in this event before confronting
Bold Eagle in the Elitlopp next month. It will also be necessary to deal with the defender of the title
Your Highness , as well as the other Scandinavian
Lionel ,
Kadett CD ,
Oasis Bi and
On Track Piraten . Never seen in France but having assured their participation in qualifications,
They are two very young drivers who will drive the French trotters, Alexis Prat, son of Frederic who trained Black of April before the start of his season of mount, and Lorenzo Donati, son of Roberto, which drags Voltigeur of Myrt .
The starters, their record and their driver:
Square |
Horse |
Driver |
General Record |
1 |
Spring Erom (Sweden) |
Christopher Ericksson |
1'11''0 |
2 |
Oasis Bi (Italy) |
Erik Adielsson |
1'09''4 |
3 |
Black of Avril |
Alexis Prat |
1'10''9 |
4 |
Flyer of Myrt |
Lorenzo Donati |
1'09''7 |
5 |
Nadal Broline (Sweden) |
Ulf Ohlsson |
1'10''1 |
6 |
Nuncio (USA) |
Örjan Kihlström |
1'08''7 |
7 |
Lionel (Norway) |
Göran Antonsen |
1'11''7 |
8 |
Your Highness (Sweden) |
Björn Goop |
1'09''7 |
9 |
On Track Piraten (Sweden) |
Johnny Takter |
1'09''4 |
10 |
Kadett CD (Sweden) |
Robert Bergh |
1'09''8 |
Two other French trotters, Safari Dream , who left for Scandinavia at the beginning of the year, and Valdenburg , will participate in the mounted trotting race.
Monday: the Grand Prize of the Lottery (Group I – 1,600m autostart)
The Grand Prix of the Lottery of Naples takes place in three batteries qualifiers for the final.
Legendary legacy, once won by the not-so-legendary Roquépine (1967) One of May (1971, 72 and 73) and then Bellino II (1976), the last French trotter to have registered his name in the "Gran Premio della Lotteria" Is Hillion Brillouard driven by Philippe Allaire in 1980. One of the greatest champions of history, Varenne , reigned on this race, imposing itself three times consecutively (2000, 01 and 02) as, more recently, Mack Grace SM (2012, 13 and 14). Last year, Voltigeur de Myrt had only found Oasis Bi on his way after having brilliantly won his qualifying pool in 1'10''6.
This year, the French delegation looks very promising. They are two real distance specialists, accomplished champions,
Timoko and
A Guy of Héripré , who come to defy the Italians on their Neapolitan land.
Timoko , in the second battery, shot number 5, which is not the best but not the worst either, knowing that Richard Westerink's crack has already come out of more problematic situations.
A Heriper's Guy will be in Battery 1 with the number 1, but his basic speed especially at the start should allow him to keep a good place and qualify for the final. If that is the case,
On the driver side, Björn Goop will obviously be in the sulky of Timoko , and Un Mec d'Héripré will find Jos Verbeeck with whom he has just won the Gran Premio Costa Azzurra in Turin.
The starters of batteries 1 and 2, their record and their driver:
Battery 1 |
Horse |
Driver |
General Record |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
A Guy of Héripré |
Jos Verbeeck |
1'09''5 |
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|
|
|
|
2 |
Ringostarr Treb (I) |
Roberto Vecchione |
1'09''5 |
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
Super Fez |
Gabriele Gelormini |
1'11''8 |
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
Specialess (I) |
Andrea Vitagliano |
1'10''8 |
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|
|
|
|
5 |
Tano Fohle Sm (I) |
Antonio Di Nardo |
1'11''7 |
|
|
|
|
|
6 |
Tesoro Degli Dei (I) |
Enrico Bellei |
1'12''0 |
|
|
|
|
|
7 |
Totoo Del Ronco (I) |
Mario Minopoli Jr |
1'11''6 |
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
Trendy Ok (I) |
Alessandro Gocciadoro |
1'11''4 |
|
|
|
|
|
Battery 2 |
Horse |
Driver |
General Record |
1 |
Testimonial Ok (I) |
Alessandro Gocciadoro |
1'11''9 |
2 |
Street Varenne Dany (I) |
Antonio Di Nardo |
1'11''4 |
3 |
Sugar Rey (I) |
Erik H. Bondo |
1'11''4 |
4 |
Real Mede Sm (I) |
Domenico Zanca |
1'12''0 |
5 |
Timoko |
Björn Goop |
1'09''1 |
6 |
Tony Gio (I) |
Guiseppe Maisto |
1'10''4 |
7 |
Pascia 'Lest (I) |
Enrico Bellei |
1'09''1 |
8 |
Steven Del Ronco (I) |
Mario Minopoli Jr |
1'11''3 |
The final is raced over the same distance for a purse of €704,000.
The Lotteria has drawn a solid group of speedsters including Timoko, Un Mec d’Heripre, Timone EK, Volstead, Pascia’Lest and Ringostarr Treb.
There is also a consolidation race for a purse of €33,000.
Thomas H. Hicks