Horses are still flown to the top race in Kouvola

Kymi GP horses traditionally fly to Uti Airport. Last year, horse caretaker Kirsi Manninen escorted the Valokaja Hindö horse from the cargo plane. Juho Hämäläinen / Finnish Hippos

The international race season in Finland will continue next Saturday in Kouvola, where the Kymi Grand Prix has been held since 1998. From the beginning, the specialty of the Kouvola racetrack has been air transport, which brings international guests to the race.

Traditionally, the flight has departed from France and made a stopover in Sweden. The flight will also take place this year, although the cost level has risen significantly.

– Expenses have risen by a total of about 20 percent. We are talking about significant sums, Executive Director of the Valkeala Horse Friends Association, which runs the Kouvola racecourse Arto Hytönen describes.

The cost of air transport has already been well over 50,000 euros in the past, so the increase in costs is about a five-figure amount. The first prize in the race is 100,000 euros, which means that the cost of the flight is a very significant part of the whole.

– Arranging a flight is not a matter of course. The decision is made separately each year, but the matter has been considered so critical for Kymi GP that it has not been desired to abandon it. Kouvola is so far off the map of Europe that you wouldn’t get international stars without a flight.

The concept of the people of Kouvola has also been amazed. Arranging air transport is so expensive that other Finnish race organizers have only caught it in exceptional cases, but for the people of Kouvola, the air bridge is an annual affair.

– Partners make it possible, they can’t be thanked too often, Hytönen says.

– In addition, the work is done with a very small organization, ie costs are kept to a minimum and stakes are made in this matter. You can stumble at some points, but the flight has been our thing to keep up with.

Driving disorder

Thanks to the flight, many high-class astronauts have been seen in Kouvola. This year, too, the race is becoming very high, with many top riders from France and Sweden on the preliminary list.

One of the stars is last year’s French winner Ce Bello Romain. Its performance even became afterthought with its French director Anthony Barrier ordered the horse to break the rules. Barrier received a driving ban and a fine of 2,000 euros.

Anyway, the gap between French and Nordic equestrian sports has widened recently. Driving rules are different in France than in the Nordic countries, and French views have not always been viewed well in the Nordic countries.

– As an organizer, we do what we can and what we belong to. For foreigners, there are rule interpretations before the raves and if there are problems, they will be reviewed with them afterwards. Adherence to the rules is absolutely required, Arto Hytönen explains.

Hytönen does not see principled lines as a matter of a single racetrack.

– The unification of the European trotting culture is a matter for the European Trotting Federation UET. All countries are represented there, and there is a need to harmonize action.

French crabs have recently been seen less frequently in the Nordic countries. There was only one Frenchman in the Elitloppet run a couple of weeks ago, and by the way, French stars are no longer commonplace in the big Nordic Games.

Arto Hytönen sees the recruitment of horses to Kouvola along a somewhat easier journey.

– We have done long-term work and wanted to make it possible to get even big stars to Finland. International competition also shows, for example, that Norwegian equestrian sports have had their own worries about funding. The Oslo Grand Prix, which has traditionally competed with many of the horses with us, is not quite at the level of its glory at the moment.