There was no doubt about the best of the Finlandia race in Vermo, when the Swedish mare Stoletheshow roared to victory.
Stoletheshow and Magnus A Djuse got to style in the final meters of Finlandia. Maisa Hyttinen / Finnish Hippos
The first prize of 110,000 euros in Finlandia, Finlandia’s top competition of the trotting summer, went to the Swedish-owned and Norwegian-trained Stoletheshow. Swedish Magnus A Djusen directed by and Norwegian Frode Hamren the trained stallion roared to victory from the breast of the leader.
Eight-year-old Stoletheshow was runner-up in the Finlandia race a year ago and won, among other things, the Oslo Grand Prix. After winning the Finlandia race, Stoletheshow’s winnings amount to more than 900,000 euros.
Instructor Magnus A Djuse is the youngest winner in the history of the Finlandia race. 23-year-old Djuse made Swedish trotting history last year by winning the country’s riders’ league as the youngest in modern trotting.
Djuse also did everything right in the Finlandia race. He drove Stoletheshow in the early stages alongside the Finnish racer Global Withdrawl and then controlled the events of the start. When the pace was quite moderate on the way, the task of the rear horses was hopeless, and they were left in the background led by the Swedish pre-favourite Don Fanucci Zeti.
In the final stretch, Stoletheshow took first place before the Italian Bengurion Jet and Global Withdraw, who struggled well from the front. The winning time was 10.6a.
– I had a good feeling 300 meters before the finish line. The horse definitely won, Magnus A Djuse described in the winner’s interview.
The winner of the Finlandia race was also promised a place in the Elitloppet in Stockholm’s Solvalla in three weeks. For Finns, it remains to be seen whether the third-placed Global Withdrawl’s performance was enough to convince the parties responsible for the Elitloppet horses’ invitations.