Stockholm — The 7-year-old gelding Double Deceiver, bred by Steve Stewart and Oakwood Farms, won both his elimination heat and the final of Sweden Cup, one of Saturday’s (May 30) feature races at Solvalla.
Double Deceiver is trained by Daniel Redén, who purchased him in Harrisburg in 2022 for $500,000, and he was now able to win the Sweden Cup for the second year in a row.
After an easy victory in his elimination heat in 1:52.2f, Double Deceiver, driven by Örjan Kihlström, was the favorite in the final. From post position 1, he took the lead and coasted to an easy win, setting a new Sweden Cup record of 1.50.4f.
Another North American expat, Crown, whom Dexter Dunn had qualified for the final with a third-place finish in his elimination, took second behind Double Deceiver after a strong rail trip by Dunn, while Sweden’s Working Class Hero finished third.
Double Deceiver earned a total of $75,000 today.
For Dunn, the result in the Sweden Cup was his best result from the seven races he drove in today.
There was $110,000 in first-prize money in the traditional Harper Hanover’s Trot, contested over a distance of 2 miles.
The favorite, 5-year-old Gaining Experience with Björn Goop, took the lead right from the start and was never in danger of losing. He won very impressively in 1:56.3f (mile rate).
It was only the 10th start of his career, and he has now won nine of them.