Elitlopp Review

Yesterday in the Elitlopp, while Arch Madness didn't win, he certainly didn't disgrace himself with a second place finish for the second year in a row on a wet and overcast day in Sweden.  The track for the races was sloppy.


In the first elimination heat, Nesta Effe , driven by Roberto. Vecchione and representing Italy, won getting up to win in a kilometer rate of 1:10.7 (1:53.4 mile rate) for the 1609 meters.  Nesta Effe was fifth at the half and as they were in the final turn it looked like it would be hard for him to get up, but get up he did in a bit of fancy driving; threading his way to the outside to make a final move to get the win.




In the second elimination heat, Sebastian K, driven by Åke Svanstedt, held on to win heat in 1:11.1 (1:54,1). grinding it on the outside racing first over, getting the lead a third of the way down the stretch.  Arch Madness who was involved early, managed to secure fourth place to return for the final, drawing post position seven.  Nehar, the eventual Elitlopp victor finished second in this heat.



This set up a final where Nesta Effe drew the rail in the final with second elimination winner Sebastian K drawing the two hole.  Nehar, the eventual winner, started from post four. Arch Madness, as previously mentioned drew post seven in the final, seemingly out of contention in the final.

In the final, Nehar, driven by Robert Bergh took the trophy honors with a win in 1:10.8 (1:53.4) in the slop.  Staying back in the early part of the race, Nahar launched a bid from the near the back of the field in the backstretch the second time with Arch Madness following him.  Unfortunately for Arch Madness, Nehar had plenty of gas in the tank to hold off Arch Madness and take home the trophy.




For those who love catch drivers, let it be noted that both Nehar and Arch Madness were driven by their trainers.  A good trainer given the right horse can drive with the best drivers around.


Meanwhile, on this side of the pond, some of the best were in action at Harrah's Philadelphia with Wishing Stone winning the Maxie Lee Memorial Trot, wiring the field in a track record 1:52.




Earlier in an upset, Economy Terror scored an upset victory in the Betsy Ross Invitational for Mare Pacers.  Instead of taking an aggressive trip, Kakaley followed the leader to the half and once the leader Drop The Ball began to fade and Rocklamation and Androvette were stung by bad trips, Economy Terror was able to take advantage of her distance saving trip to win and pay $21.80..