Timo Nurmos is chasing one of the world’s biggest racehorses with the strength of no less than three of his hard coaches.
Timo Nurmos knows how to succeed at Kriterium. PDO
A Finnish trotting trainer who has been influential in Sweden for a long time Timo Nurmos aims for the jackpot at Swedish raves this weekend. On Saturday in Stockholm’s Solvalla, the three-year-old Kriterium will be run, in which Nurmos got three to train in the prestigious final.
What is exceptional about Nurmos’ achievement is that all three of his finalists, Our Pride, Fame And Glory and Nouri di Quattro, have won all the starts they have run so far. Fame And Glory and Nouri di Quattro have five starts and five wins in their careers, Our Pride has competed and won six times.
Nurmos, 64, is one of Sweden’s most successful coaches, and Kriterium in particular has been a particularly successful competition for him. Those under Nurmos’ training have won the Swedish Kriterium no less than seven times, the last time in 2018, when Inti Boko was number one in the competition. Nurmos has won the Finnish Kriterium three times in his career.
The Swedish Kriterium’s first prize is two million kroner, but since all three Nurmos finalists are involved in the premium chance system, they will be paid double the Kriterium’s prize money. The trio is therefore aiming for the first prize of four million kroner. The pot is one of the largest payouts in trotting competitions in the world.
NHL star in the background
Nicklas Bäckström is fully excited about his horse’s lead. AOP / USA TODAY SPORTS
Among the Nurmos finalists, the most interesting background is Our Pride. It is owned by Nickback Invest Ab, which is backed by a Swedish NHL star Nicklas Backström with his family. Bäckström, 35, who represents the Washington Capitals, has played more than a thousand NHL games and collected more than a thousand power points in them.
Bäckström is indeed one of Sweden’s toughest NHL stars of all time. He is also a Washington Capitals club legend, after all, he has played his entire NHL career in the same club. The 35-year-old center forward’s contract also covers the next two seasons.
Trotting is very popular among Swedish NHL players. In addition to Bäckström, also among others Mats Sundin and Peter Forsberg have also been successful as horse oracles.
The Swedish Travronden in the interview Bäckström says that his own enthusiasm for trotting ignited more than 15 years ago. Enthusiasm has caught on from his family, because father Anders already owned horses in previous years.
The striker, who rose to world stardom from Brynäs, currently owns four horses. He bought Our Pride at an auction for 600,000 kroner when the stallion was one year old.
– Timo Nurmos believed in the horse very much. I thought that since he knows this genre, he should be listened to, and we hit it off. We can now be really happy about that, Bäckström describes in Travronden.
Bäckström says he followed the qualifying of the criterion from his home sofa.
– My whole body was wet with sweat, it was a combination of really intense excitement and an adrenaline rush. I haven’t been this excited since I played my first NHL game.
Bäckström will watch Saturday’s final at home in Washington. The Capitals happen to have a day off, so Bäckström can watch the big raves in peace.
Our Pride is one of the early favorites of the race. The stallion led by Magnus A Djuse, who heads the Swedish riding league, starts the race with number four.
– I think it has a good chance, but a lot depends on the starting acceleration, i.e. whether it can pass those starting from the inside or not, commented Bäckström in Travronden.