The European racing season is set to kick off in a big way this weekend, featuring prestigious races in Sweden, Italy, and Finland.
In Sweden, finals for both the Paralympiatravet — a top-level event — and the King’s and Queen’s Trophies for 4-year-olds will take place on Saturday afternoon at the Aby Racetrack in Gothenburg.
In the Paralympiatravet, where the winner takes home $150,000, Ônas Prince, driven by Per Nordström, will attempt to repeat last year’s victory but faces strong competition from contenders such as Borups Victory (Horse of the Year 2024), driven by Daniel Wäjersten, San Moteur with Björn Goop, and A Fair Day with Oscar Ginman.
The King’s Trophy will see the participation of Loxahatchee, a son of Greenshoe and Hannelore Hanover, who was sold for $435,000 as a yearling. After securing third place in his debut race in Sweden, he claimed victory in a qualification round for the King’s Trophy.
The prize for this race is $100,000, matching that of the Queen’s Trophy.
Meanwhile, at the Agnano racetrack in Naples, the Gran Premio Lotteria enters its 51st edition. Once regarded as Europe’s premier sprint race for elite older horses, it has since been surpassed by Elitloppet in Stockholm in prestige.
This year, among the 24 competitors spread across three elimination heats, only one horse is trained outside of Italy: Ideal San Leandro, driven by Anthony Barrier and trained by Richard Westerink.
Italy’s top trainer, Alessandro Gocciadoro, dominates the race entries, sending eight horses to the event. His top contender is Vernissage Grif, who has won the race twice before.
Among his rivals is Alrajah One, a former Åke Svanstedt horse making a comeback. This year, he will be driven by Vincenzo Luongo and trained by Mario Azzaroni.
The final boasts a €715,000 ($810,000) prize pool.
Over in Finland, Finlandia Ajo, another sprint event with a $115,000 winner’s purse, will take place at Vermo Racecourse in Helsinki. Among the favorites is Double Deceiver, an expat trained by Daniel Redén and driven by Örjan Kihlström.